Kiss, Kiss
by Ahra
Summary: Purrsephone cares about Deuce and doesn't like to see him sad. So, what's a werecat to do when Cleo and Deuce are having another fight? And how will the other werecats feel about it?
1. Dear Diary

This is my first fanfiction in the Monster High genre. It came to me while watching webisodes. I hope you all like it and I love feedback, good or bad.

Mandatory Disclaimer.

Monster High does not belong to me. None of these characters belong to me. I'm writing this for pure enjoyment and am making no money off it. I just love the world.

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

_Being in love sucks...Well, to be honest, I wouldn't know if love sucks or not. I haven't been in it but those that are in love don't seem to have a lot of fun. Or maybe that's just because I'm focused on one example right now. Draculaura and Clawd seem to be fine, not that I care, but still...ok, maybe love doesn't suck but having crush definitely does suck. _

**That's because you won't do anything about it. It's only a crush because you don't actually take action, take a risk.**

_Take a risk she says, like it's just easy. Well, it would be easy if he was single but he's not and whatever else other people might thing I don't go after other ghoul's guys. Not ever. No matter how tempting. I just really really hate to see him unhappy. He's got such a great smile and is so nice to everyone but when she yells at him...especially when he didn't do anything to deserve it. It hurts to see someone you care about hurt. _

**Then do something about it, sister.**

Purrsephone looked at her sister in annoyance, laying her pen down on the journal they shared. "Meowlody! You know I don't steal boyfriends!"

"Of course you don't. You shouldn't and besides, if you can steal a manster, you can't trust him now can you? But, you should still do something." Meowlody held up a hand to stop her sister before Purrsephone could start up again. "I'm not saying steal him. You care about him so go do something like you would for a friend. Just don't say or do anything against her or to break them up but no rule says you can't do something friendly and nice for him."

Purrsephone propped her chin on her palm. "Well, no rule except Toralei. She still says I need to get over him."

Meowlody reached over and grabbed an emory board, amused by her sister's pouting, knowing that Purrsephone was already getting over it. Rolling onto her back, she worked on her nails. "Well, you should. Get over him or become his friend or whatever, just do something other than lying around whining because you didn't get to see him smile today." She looked over at her sister and laughed at the dark-haired werecat's momentarily outraged face.

Giving into her sister's light-hearted teasing, Purrsephone closed their shared journal and grabbed a pillow to playfully toss at her twin. "Fine. I get it. No more whining tonight."

"Definitely no more whining tonight. Granite City High is having a dance tonight and Rocco has made sure to score three extra invites."

"Cause no party is a real party without a werecat on the scene."

-to be continued-


	2. Smile

CHAPTER ONE

Deuce sighed as he walked towards his locker. He just didn't understand it. Usually when Cleo yelled at him she would include a description of what she thought he had done or he could figure it out by just remembering what girl he had talked to that day. However, today, he could not think of what he had done wrong the previous day. It had seemed to start like most days. He had walked her to her first class and then really hadn't seen her most of the rest of the day but that was normal. She was busy with fearleading, her friends, keeping up on all the latest going on's of Monster High and, right now, planning prom which was coming up in three weeks.

So...normal.

However, right before last period the previous day, Cleo had come to find him. He had known he was in trouble the moment he caught her eye. Her back was even straighter than her normal perfect posture. Her mouth was in a real frown not an artful pout and her walk did not have its usual unhurried grace. He hadn't tried to greet her or calm her down because she hated when he did that. When she was angry, she needed to vent. He understood that. So, he had waited and listened to find out what he was being accused of.

Unfortunately, her explosion had not been as clearly scripted as usual. He knew he was being accused of cheating on her...again. This was what the third...or was it fifth time since they had started dating that she had accused him of the same thing and, each time, it was proven that he wasn't doing anything wrong because, well, he wasn't. He did not mess with other people's relationships and he certainly did not mess around on his own. So, knowing he was innocent, he didn't immediately jump to his own defense. Before he could do that, he needed to know exactly what behavior of his had been misunderstood this time.

Usually, she either screamed a name of a ghoul or dramatically pointed her out about half way through the accusation. Then would follow a comment about how she had 'found out about it' which he could use to pinpoint what had happened and then she would break up with him. Once that was over, she would calm down enough for him to talk to her or she would flounce off. If she flounced off, he usually gave her about a day to cool off. Either way, she would calm down and then he could show her how what she thought had happened was actually completely innocent.

However, something was odd this time. She hadn't stated who she thought he was cheating with. She hadn't given him a clue as to when or how she came to the conclusion he was cheating. Nothing.

He wasn't sure what to do at this point and he sighed as he reached his locker. Cleo was beautiful and, when they were alone together, she was usually so sweet. He knew she had a lot of insecurities that she kept hidden from the rest of the world. He tried to be understanding when she took those insecurities out on him but sometimes...well it would be a lot easier if she would just tell him what had happened instead of this guessing game.

As he reached for the lock, he noticed a small envelope taped to his locker. Glancing up and down the hallway, he didn't see anyone watching. Curious, he finished opening his locker and setting his books down inside so he could open it up. It had a light green note as well as small bag of sugar nips, one of his favorite snacks. Maybe Cleo...Eagerly unfolding the paper he read, "I was sorry to see you have such a bad day yesterday and wished it had been better today. You're a nice person and your smile always makes the people around you smile. I hope you and Cleo get things worked out soon so you can really smile again. Until then, maybe these will help you smile just a little bit." It wasn't signed and he didn't recognize the handwriting but it did curve his lips up a little bit.

It didn't make up for the pain in his heart but it was a nice gesture. He wished he knew who had done it so he could say thank you.

Peering around a corner, Purrsephone saw Deuce's brief smile and couldn't help grinning in response. She hadn't lied about what she had written. She really did think his smile brightened things up and she did hope that he and Cleo got this worked out if only so he would be his usual self again. She knew most people wouldn't believe it but this wasn't a trick or a prank. She really just wanted him to be happy even if it wasn't with her.


	3. At the Maul

Purrsephone's good mood lasted all the way to the maul where she met up with her sister and their best friend Toralei. They were sharing a basket of fries and their eyes were dancing in that mischievous way that usually meant trouble for someone. Purrsephone's smile widened and she quickly slipped into the empty chair at their table, snagging her sister's soda for a quick drink as she leaned in. "What did I miss?"

Meowlody pouted prettily and glanced over at the nearby table where three gargoyle boys were sitting discussing their latest Skultimate Roller Maze practice. Flicking her tail, she leaned back, knowing the effect it would have on them. "Hey, Rocco, Purrsephone stole my drink." Running her hand through her hair and lowering her lashes, she made a very pretty picture and the Rocco's friends were not slow to notice it.

Toralei's boyfriend rolled his eyes and looked at his suddenly distracted friends. Shaking his head slightly in amusement, he smacked the table. His two friends jumped and looked over sheepishly. He smirked. "A pretty single ghoul wants another soda." They looked at him blankly and he rolled his eyes again. "You think you get a ghoul by ignoring when she wants somethin'?" Both of the boys were immediately on the move and Rocco looked back over. "Two sodas on the way." He winked at Toralei who smiled back in approval, blowing him a soft kiss.

Meowlody giggled softly and turned fully back to the table. "They're so cute when they're playing fetch."

Toralei snickered in agreement. "But even cuter when they're smart enough to send someone else to play fetch."

Purrsephone nodded as she finished off her sister's soda. "Yeah, you were right to keep him, Toralei. So, anyway, what did I miss?"

Meowlody shook her head, her white hair drifting softly back down her back. "Not until you tell us how it went. You did stick around to see if he read it, didn't you?" She raised an eyebrow and both werecats focussed on Purrsephone who blushed slightly.

"Yes, of course I did. What's the point of doing something if you don't watch to see if it works."

"And?" The two girls leaned closer.

Purrsephone smiled. "Yeah. It did get him to smile. So, it worked."

There was an expectant pause brought to a close by the return of the gargoyle boys with the new sodas. Purrsephone and Meowlody each took a soda, making sure to let their fingers brush the boys and smiling up through their lashes in thank you. Before either boy could try to make conversation, though, Toralei spoke up with her best dismissal voice. "Yes, thank you, now, aren't you and your team captain supposed to be planning for your next Roller Maze game?"

Neither gargoyle was successful in hiding his disappointment as they returned to Rocco's table but Toralei and her boyfriend shared an amused smile before the orange werecat turned back to her friend. "A smile? That's your big success?"

Meowlody lay a hand on Toralei's shoulder. "That's the only thing she was aiming for. He's still taken you know."

Toralei shrugged. "Maybe not."

Meowlody frowned. "What do you mean maybe not? Just because they say they're broken up doesn't mean they're broken up. Everyone knows that."

"True but as I was about to tell you before Purrsephone showed up..." Her gaze was caught by something off to the side. "Well, let's just watch and see, hmmmmm?"

The twins followed her green gaze to where Cleo was sitting on the other side of the food court with her best ghouls Ghoulia, Clawdeen, Draculaura and Frankie. Clawd and Deuce were approaching and Purrsephone frowned at the trepidation she could see on Deuce's face. You didn't need to see his eyes to translate his tightened jaw and cautious demeanor.

The short vampiress immediately bounced to her feet to give her werewolf boyfriend a hug which brought a smile to several mouths but the tension between Cleo and Deuce ate away even those small signs of happiness. The snake-headed manster moved to sit down next to Cleo but the fearleading captain immediately stood up and glared at him before loudly announcing. "Don't worry, we weren't going to stay here much longer. I would hate to embarrass you by keeping you from your _other_ girls."

Deuce tilted his head in obvious confusion. "Other? Cleo, you know-"

"Exactly, I know. You don't have to pretend any more Deuce. I understand." Turning her back on him, she waved at her friends. "Come along, there is still the next floor of the maul to conquer."

"Ouch, that had to hurt."

Toralei purred in agreement with Meowlody. "Oh, yes, but very expected from what I heard."

Purrsephone turned away from the painful sight of Deuce's bowed head and Cleo's rigid back, demanding, "What? I've never seen it that bad. What's happening?"

Toralei leaned in and lowered her voice, causing the twins to lean in farther as well to hear, tails flicking back and forth in curiosity. "It's Gory." She paused for a moment before finally fully sharing. "She went to Bloodgood to try to be named fearleading captain instead of Cleo. However, Bloodgood pointed out that there was no reason to change captains in the middle of the school year especially when Cleo's team won the Mashionals. So, Gory and several of her friend somehow got ahold of the same picture of Deuce Cleo has at home and have it posted in their lockers, complete with his signature. They've been making very sure that Cleo has seen the pictures and have been dropping little 'hints' during fearleading practice about Deuce. They're playing her purrrfectly. She even fell messed up the fearleading pyramid yesterday and you know she never gets that move wrong."

Purrsephone gasped. "And Deuce doesn't know?"

Toralei shook her head. "Who's going to tell him? Cleo obviously won't talk to him and Gory and her girls are making really sure to keep it pretty quiet. Not even the vampire boys know what they're up to from what I can tell."

Meowlody smiled and curled her tail. "And just how do you know all of this and the Ghostly Gossip doesn't?"

Emerald eyes rolled in annoyance. "As if the Ghostly Gossip is ever right. Kittens, do you really think anything sneaky in the school is going to slip by me? Cleo may be the queen of the nice crowd but who do you think rules the shadows, hmmmm?"

Meowlody and Purrsephone couldn't help sharing a giggle. "They came to you, didn't they?"

"Yes, they did but, before you ask, no, I didn't help them. Why should I? They're no friends of mine and she just rubs my fur the wrong way." Her voice lowered into a growl. "The flying rat actually commanded me like a servant...or a dog. Guess no one told her you can't train a cat."

They shared a laugh but Purrsephone's brain was racing with this news. Deuce didn't know and, if Gory had her way, Deuce and Cleo were done for good. She knew what she had to do.


	4. Fearleading

Purrsephone bit her lower lip as she hurriedly taped the envelope to the school locker. One of the drawbacks of wanting to help someone who wouldn't believe you if you told them the sky was blue was that she didn't know his address or email. The only way to do this anonymously was to put it on his locker at school. It would've been so much easier if she could have just grabbed him at the maul and told him but she knew it wouldn't work. She and her sister and friend were known for playing pranks not for being nice or telling the truth. That view of them wasn't entirely accurate but Purrsephone was pretty sure it would take a lot to convince Deuce that this time was different and more time than she had to be able to do this successfully. Once she was convinced the note was secure, she quickly scampered off, joined by Toralei and Meowlody who had been on lookout.

Toralei raised a burnt sienna eyebrow. "You're sure you want to do this?"

Purrsephone nodded her head but kept her eyes averted. "It's the only way."

Later that morning, Deuce trudged miserably to his locker. He still didn't know why Cleo was mad at him. He had resorted to asking Clawd to see if what he could find out from Draculaura but that had been a bust. The normally gossipy vampiress had become very closed and said that she couldn't discuss it, not without betraying Cleo. Deuce respected her loyalty but it still irritated him that no one who knew anything would let him in on what was really going on. He knew he hadn't cheated on Cleo. In fact, he had been going out of his way since that misunderstanding with Operetta not to talk to girls unless part of a group so that Cleo wouldn't worry so much. He sighed then noticed the green envelope on his locker. It was the same shade as the previous day and he grabbed at it with more energy that he had felt all morning. If it was like yesterday then it might give him more to smile about than he had had since the last one.

Opening it, he quickly scanned the words. "I'm so sorry you're going through all of this but I found out why it's happening and I don't think it's fair you don't know so here it is. Gory and her friends got ahold of a picture of you. From what I know, it's some special picture you gave only to Cleo. They've got them up in their lockers and have been making Cleo think that you gave them the pictures and are going behind her back. I don't know if this can help you but I really hope it does. Your smile is definitely missed. Good luck."

Deuce's eyes widened behind his glasses. Now, it all made sense. No wonder he couldn't think of anything he had done. He hadn't done anything. His hand crushed the paper as he balled it into an angry fist. No wonder Cleo was so mad. How dare that conniving Belfrey Prep refugee mess with Cleo like that? Stuffing the paper into his jacket pocket, he immediately went towards the gym. The fearleading team usually had a practice before school so they didn't interfere with casketball's after school practice.

Pushing open the door, he didn't pause as he strode in heading straight for Cleo. Her eyes blazed when she first saw them but he cut her off before she could start. "No, I've been listening to you for two days and now you listen." Her eyes widened and her jaw snapped shut in surprise. "Someone finally told me what they," he waved a dismissing hand toward the Belfrey vampiresses, "Have been doing and saying and it's not true Cleo. None of it is true. I'm with you. I love you. They're just jealous because you're better than they are and are trying to hurt you." He reached out for her and, this time, she didn't back away so he pulled her into a reassuring hug. "Cleo, I have never and will never cheat on you. I don't need another ghoul when I have you, ok?"

The Egyptian ghoul pressed her face into his neck as she wrapped her arms around his neck, a sure sign that she understood and was no longer angry. "They just sounded so sure and had those pictures...how did they get them?"

"I don't know, Cleo, I swear I don't. I didn't give them any pictures. I've never even spoken to any of them."

Cleo nodded softly against his shoulder. "I know. I just...I know."

He stroked her hair, ignoring the sighs and awws coming from her friends and the glares from the Belfrey Prep ghouls. "It's ok." He felt her calm and said a little more loudly, letting her finish regaining her composure before she dealt with the fiends that had come so close to breaking them up. "I know you need to get back to your fearleading duties. We'll go to the maul after school, ok?"

She nodded and leaned up to give him a brief kiss before her eyes hardened and she turned toward Gory and her friends. "Well, it seems some people haven't been truthful."

Gory was a portrait of unconcern, smirking down at her fingernails. "Does it?" She looked at Cleo out of the corner of her eye, raising an eyebrow. "But which is it? Did you really expect him to confess?"

Cleo placed her hands on her hips, radiating confidence, not even bothering to respond to Gory's baiting, "As fearleading captain, it is my duty to make sure my team represents the best of Monster High. Therefore, I am officially suspending you and your little Befrey leeches from the fearleading team, immediately."

Gory's smirked widened. "You wouldn't dare. You need us for your routine this weekend and it's time for evauluations for the next fearleading camp."

Cleo's eyes moved around the gym, buying time. Deuce could tell that Gory had a point and Cleo was trying to find a way around it when the Egyptian ghoul grinned. "Actually, I don't." Turning on her heel, she strode over to the bleachers where several students had gathered to watch the practice. Among those gathered were three werecats who used to be on the team. "Toralei, you said you and your friends said you wanted back on the team."

The werecat shrugged. "That was awhile ago and you said that you didn't want us."

"No, I said I didn't need you. The team was full up. Well a few spots have opened up if you're still interested."

The werecats looked at each other and then Toralei stood up. "Sure, sounds fun...now that you've learned not to be such a ridiculous dictator..." She smiled fake sweetly as the twins stood up behind her. "You want us to go change now and show those wannabe's how to really do that routine?"

Cleo gave a firm nod, ignoring the insult Toralei had slipped into her agreement. Deuce smiled, proud of Cleo's poise. "Yes, you'll need the practice so we can be ready for this weekend."

The three werecats slinked towards the locker rooms without further barbs though Deuce did overhear Toralei mutter, "Needs practice? Looks somebody's forgotten who taught who to do a cartwheel."

"Well," Cleo dusted her fingers together. "That's settled." She looked over at Gory with pure disgust. "You may go now, your services are no longer needed."


	5. Plans

In the locker room, Meowlody and Purrsephone looked over at Toralei. "Are you sure about this?"

The other werecoat nodded, her short striped hair swinging briefly over her face. "Yeah, I've kinda missed it. Besides, where else are we going to get the best dirt?"

Purrsephone raised an eyebrow while she tied one of her shoes. "Dirt on who?"

"The casketball team, the SKRM team, your boyfriend's soon to be ex..."

"I don't have a boyfriend and we're not going to do any of that." Purrsephone put her foot down literally for emphasis.

Toralei held up her hands with a giggle. "Calm down, calm down. It was a joke. But, come on, how long do you see this lasting if she doesn't stop going off on the stupidest thing."

Purrsephone shrugged and looked away. "I don't know but I'm not going to be the cause of any problems for him. Ok?"

Toralei nodded. "We're not going to be a problem. You forget who else is on the team..."

The twins looked at her expectantly. "Frankie." They waited for a few moments. "Toralei rolled her eyes. "I've got no love for this school and most of the monster in it, you know that. But, Frankie made sure to keep the Granite City High's school crest at Granite City. If not for her, there'd probably be no gym for the dances...and no SKRM team. I'm not causing trouble for someone that does something good like that for my manster. As long as Cleo and her are tight, the little Egyptian's got nothing to fear from me...Besides, I think Gory and her girls need a lot more of a lesson that Cleo's bunch ever did." Toralei's eyes flashed emerald and her claws extended. "No one messes with me or either of you and ever ever gets away with it."

Meowlody smiled, not surprised at Toralei's vehemence. "They haven't messed with us."

"Yes, they did. They upset Deuce and Cleo which upset Frankie and upset Purrsephone. For that and trying to treat me like some stupid little lapcat, they deserve some payback."

Meowlody smiled. "Yes, we're going to have to think of something very very special for them." Purrsephone purred and nodded in agreement.

In the gym, Deuce watched as the Belfrey group left with dark glares and soft mutters. It wasn't over with them, that was for sure. Meanwhile, though, Cleo's friends had gathered around her with their own congratulations about the problem being solved though some were a little more suspicious.

Clawdeen glared over at the door to the locker room. "Are you sure it's a good idea to let those cats back on the team. You know how they are. They'll scratch you the moment your back's turned."

Frankie immediately argued with her usual optimism. "But we need at least three more people for the routine and they were on it before."

"Yeah but Toralei's boyfriend is the captain of Granite City's SKRM team, remember?"

Cleo waved away the objections, back to her usual confident self. "If they cause trouble, they'll be even easier to kick off the team than Gory and her leeches."

Frankie grabbed onto the more positive frame of mind. "Right, besides they can't possibly try anything worse than Gory did, right?"

Draculaura nodded, her usually sunny personality joining with Frankie's to burn away the last of the tension. "Right and now we know not to listen to anything Gory says, right?"

Cleo nodded. "Exactly."

"Yeah," Frankie continued, "It's just great that it finally got worked out."

Cleo smiled over at Deuce who immediately returned it. "Yes, I knew as soon as Deuce walked in it was a lie. Deuce would never treat a girl he was interested in the way he blew off Gory and the others. I'm just glad you finally got it straightened out." Her voice trailed off and she tapped a fingernail on her lower lip. "Though...how did you find out about it." Her eyes lit up almost immediately and she looked over at Draculaura. "I told you not to tell Clawd but since everything turned out ok, don't worry, I'm not mad." She stepped over to give Draculaura a hug when the vampiress took a step back.

"But, Cleo, I did not tell Clawd. I promised I would not and I did not." Her lavender eyes were wide and innocent.

Cleo stopped. "But it it wasn't you..." She turned back to Deuce, her face darkening, "How did you find out about it anyway?"

Deuce reached into his pocket and pulled out the note. "I found this taped to my locker."

He didn't get a chance to hand it to her. Instead, she snatched it out of his hand. "Let me see that." Her eyes scanned it quickly before she angrily demanded. "Who sent this?"

Deuce shrugged. "I don't know. I told you I found it taped to my locker."

"And you don't have any clue? Random people just send you notes? Like a secret admirer?"

She was getting herself worked up again and Deuce did his best to head off her anger. "Cleo, I told you, I don't know who sent it and I don't really care. It got us back together again and that's all that's important isn't it?" Cleo crossed her arms, considering and Deuce rubbed his hands over her shoulders. "Look, you have fearleading practice. Why don't I just hang here until you're done, then I'll walk you to your class and we can go to the maul after school, ok?" He could feel her anger weakening. "The last two days have been miserable, babe, can't we have a good one today?" He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. "Ok?"

She made him wait a few more minutes before finally relaxing against him. "Ok. I need to find some new shoes at the maul anyways."

Deuce kissed her, covering a wince at the mention of shoe shopping, before making his way over to the bleachers to watch practice. He was happy that Cleo was no longer mad at him but he couldn't shake a feeling of irritation.


	6. Decisions

As the day wore on, the nebulous irritation at the back of Deuce's skull continued to bother him until he finally realized what it was that was bothering him. He had never said thank you to the person that had finally solved everything between him and Cleo. They hadn't asked for anything and, as far as he could tell, whoever it was had had no reason to go out of their way to help him but...they had and they deserved to be thanked for it. Of course, since they had not signed the note and had just taped it to his locker, he wasn't sure how to thank them but he knew that he definitely needed to. He was, also, curious about who it had been and why they hadn't just walked up and told him. Though, in thinking about it, the reason they had remained anonymous might be because they were a ghoul. In fact, it made sense for them to be a ghoul.

After all, mansters did not go around complimenting each other on their smiles and, really, none of the guys around school had known what was going on. Between Gory and Cleo, the news had been pretty much ghoul only.

In addition to that, a manster would have no reason not to walk up to him. On the other hand, he knew how Cleo got any time any ghoul talked to him. The whole school probably knew how she was since she had never tried to hide it and no sane ghoul really wanted to cross Cleo. Of course, that made what the ghoul had done even nicer. She had risked a lot of trouble if Cleo had recognized her handwriting and there was even less reason for a ghoul to help him out than one of the guys.

She definitely deserved to be thanked.

Now, that just left how to go about it. He thought about it on his way to the locker after the final bell. He couldn't just put up a note because he would have to leave it blank. It felt like a cop out to just post something that said thank you around school because the only way she would know it was meant for her was if he explained it on the poster and he did not need the whole school knowing his business. Too many people already knew too much around here too often. He slid his hand into his pocket, still at a loss to think of anything until his fingers brushed a piece of plastic.

He stopped and immediately gripped it, pulling it out. It was the wrapper for the packet of sugar nips from the first note. He smiled as an idea came to him. Stopping by the office to grab some strips of tape from the secretary, he headed to his locker and pulled out a notebook, quickly scribbling a note and then taping the whole thing to his locker before heading out towards the maul to meet up with Cleo, smiling. Today was a good day.

Purrsephone and the other werecats slipped past him into the school, heading to the fearbook office. Despite the prank that she had slipped into the previous fearbook, the headmistress had been so pleased with their work and Toralei's idea of making a digital version that she had left the tabby in charge of it for the present year. The werecats enjoyed it because it let them be in all sorts of places they technically shouldn't have been. Besides, it was nice to credited for a good job...even if it wasn't a prank.

As the doors swung shut behind them, Meowlody looked over at her sister. "Well, he seems to be in a good mood."

Purrsephone nodded, torn between a smile and a frown. He had been the old Deuce again, the one that always made her heart flutter when she saw him and she was happy that he was happy again. However, the part of her that dreamed, the part that had the crush, was sad to know that it was because he was still with Cleo that he was so happy. Refusing to chance her voice betraying her, she simply nodded and gave her best attempt at a smile but kept her eyes on the floor.

Suddenly, Toralei's clawed hand gripped her should. "Maybe yes and maybe no, kitten. Check that out."

Purrsephone looked up to see where her friend was pointing and stared. On Deuce's locker was a folded piece of notebook paper. One the front he had written "To:" and then taped the sugar nips wrapper underneath it. She stared at it for several moments until her sister and Toralei both softly pushed her forward.

"Go find out what he wrote." Purrsephone looked over at Meowlody, unsure. Gold eyes rolled. "Who else could it be for?"

She was right, who else would he leave a note for with that particular wrapper. Leaving the other two werecats to keep watch, she hurried over and grabbed the note, quickly slipping it into her pocket then leading the way to the fearbook office. She didn't want to take a chance of someone seeing her with it and she wanted a place where she could put her back to the wall so she could read it without anyone looking over her shoulder. After all, cats were known for their curiosity and she knew Meowlody and Toralei would want to know what he had said. She just wanted to be able to see what it was first.

The other two seemed to understand that because neither one of them said anything as she quickly headed to the furthest corner of the office. Instead, they turned on the computer and started downloading new pictures, placing them in appropriate files.

Purrsephone's hands shook as she opened up the note. She knew what she wanted the note to say and she knew that there was no possible way it would say that therefore she had no clue what it might say. She read it slowly, savoring it. It was the first time Deuce had ever spoken directly to her, even if it was just a note and he had no clue who he was really talking to. "Hey, Thanks for the help. I owe you big time. You seem really nice so if you ever need any help or just need to talk, let me know. Thanks again."

She reread it several times and then sat there thinking, her tail twitching back and forth in indecision. What should she do now?

Would she like to just talk to him? Yes.

Would she like to be friends with him? Yes.

Was it possible? Never.

If he knew who had sent the notes...she was definitely no friend of Cleo's. None of that group liked her or the other werecats. Of course, they didn't like Cleo's group either. There were reasons why they had done what they did...not that anyone every figured that out. Purssephone frowned. But, she WAS nice and so were Meowlody and Toralei. If she wasnt' nice, she would have made sure to keep Cleo stirred up until Deuce was truly single. The manster did not deserve to get yelled at like he did. Especially not by the ghoul who was supposed to love him. Still, it was his choice...but he had written that it was ok to talk to him...even though he had to know it really wasn't. Even if there wasn't so much bad blood between her and Cleo, the Egyptian princess did not tolerate anyone talking to her manster who wasn't male. Purrsephone couldn't even remember a time Draculaura had spoken directly to Deuce and the little vampiress was fully and completely committed to Clawd so definitely not a threat.

She felt eyes on her and looked up into two concerned and annoyed gazes.

Meowlody spoke first. "It can't be that bad...can it? I mean, it should definitely be a thank you note."

Toralei was more harsh. "It had better be a thank you note. If Deuce didn't..." She let the statement trail off but there was definitely the promise of retribution in her tone and posture.

Purrsephone shook her head and held out the paper, figuring that would be the easiest way to explain.

They read it quickly and Meowlody looked up, confused. "So...what's the problem? Go talk to him."

Purrsephone glared at her. "You know I can't do that. He wouldn't be too happy about and Cleo would scream down the school."

Toralei's smile fully showed her fangs. "Oh, definitely do it then."

Purrsephone glared more fully at her. "NO!"

The orange tabby shook her head. "I was kidding, kitten, calm down. Still...he did say to talk to him..."

Meowlody nodded, "and he does owe you big time."

Purrsephone plopped her chin into her palms. "Yeah...but how?"

Her twin shrugged. "You already figured that out."

Understanding quickly dawned on her and she smiled but then hesitated. "Do you think I should?"

Toralei slipped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Personally, I think you should forget him and give some of Rocco's friends a chance or one of the new werewolves."

Meowlody purred agreement. "Yeah, some of them are definitely hot and more than worth a look but, please, sister, don't go after the Belfrey boys. They are just way too prissy."

"Exactly," Toralei nodded. "That's what we think you should do but we all know you really can't while you're hung up on him. So, get to know him. Either familiarity will breed contempt or maybe you'll wind up with a new friend. Either way, it's better than moping around wishing."

They were right. She had to do something. Purssephone's tail curled and uncurled pensively for a few moments as she made up her mind. Eventually, it lay still and she sighed, her decision made.


	7. Not what I want

Purrsephone had spent the entire afternoon and evening writing the note. She had gone through so many drafts of it Meowlody was teasing her about creating a paper shortage while Toralei rolled her eyes and muttered something about "worth it". Writing the reply was not as easy as the other werecats had made it sound because there were so many problems to overcome with just a simple piece of paper.

She wanted to be his friend but Cleo would never put up with a ghoul talking to Deuce. If she didn't even trust Draculaura around her boyfriend she certainly wasn't going to trust a single ghoul. So, this whole thing was probably going to annoy Cleo which would cause problems for Deuce which he would probably blame on Purrsephone who couldn't blame him for that. She just couldn't cause problems between Cleo and Deuce…especially since Deuce had no reason to trust her and a lot of reasons not to trust her.

She was sure that his gratitude wouldn't last past the reveal of her real identity. She and her sister and friend had been pinned with the bad traitor witch reputation a long time ago and no one in Monster High was going to let that pass…certainly not even Deuce who was so tightly tied to the popular group that had been a target of the werecats for so long.

Still, she couldn't just leave his note unanswered. He deserved better than silence after such a sweet gesture and it had been sweet. To offer to talk to a mysterious person, especially after finding out about the note had almost sent Cleo into another tirade, calling her a secret admirer.

Well, Purrsephone was but the notes weren't about that. They really weren't. Purrsephone had just tried to be nice.

She sighed and patted her pocket to be sure the end result of all her worry and stress was still in place. Toralei and Meowlody had been unusually quiet since she had started working on the note but she could feel their worry. She didn't want to worry them but she couldn't help how she felt and she couldn't just pretend there were no problems.

They immediately headed to Deuce's locker and, as soon as the coast was clear, Purrsephone slid the paper into the events and then walked away. All her wishes carefully packed back into a small corner of her mind where they would hopefully soon be covered in dust.

Deuce waved goodbye to Cleo as they parted at the door of the school and his smile slipped away. Clawd, of course, noticed and elbowed him good naturedly. "Hey, why so tense? You and Cleo are good. No test today and practice last night went perfect. "

Deuce nodded and shrugged. "Yeah, sorry, bro, just…" His mind quickly searched for an excuse…"Just didn't sleep well. Kinda tired."

The werewolf nodded in sympathy. "Oh man, that's the worst. Hopefully, there'll be some films in class today so you can catch up on it."

Deuce nodded in agreement as he turned into the hall with his locker. He hadn't lied exactly. He just hadn't told his friend the whole truth but how could he? Clawd was a good manster but Deuce didn't think he'd understand. Deuce was worried. The note he'd left last night had been on impulse…especially the offer to talk but…He didn't regret the offer, not really. The person had helped him out and Deuce didn't mind having another friend. On the other hand, if Cleo ever found out he'd written something like that, she'd put the worst spin on it possible which would equal another blow out and if the girl took him up on the offer, how was he supposed to explain it to Cleo.

He sighed. Why did it all have to be so complicated? Why couldn't the ghoul just have told him in person and then he could have said thank you and they could have hung out while Cleo was busy? No muss, no fuss, just a new friend. It should be simple but it wasn't and it wouldn't be if the ghoul actually answered back and he was honestly torn on that. He wanted her to answer back because she seemed nice and Deuce liked dealing with nice people, there just weren't enough of them. He wanted her to not answer because he didn't want the complications it would cause.

The constant struggle between all of his thoughts had kept him up most of the night. Looking up, he noticed there was no note taped to his locker and he frowned in disappointment. Whatever else, the notes had made him smile. Still, he couldn't fault someone for not wanting to risk Cleo's wrath. He certainly didn't and she loved him.

Clawd waved as he headed off towards the gym to watch Draculaura practice and Deuce motioned that he'd be there in a minute as he opened up his locker to dump his books in. Suddenly, a glint of green caught his eye. The ghoul had left a note. She just hadn't taped it to the locker this time. Trading the books for the envelope, he looked up and down the hall. It was mostly empty and no sign of  
Spectra so he opened the note and began to read.

"Hi, I'm glad that I helped and that you're happy again. You don't owe me anything. I was just happy to help. I'm glad you think I'm nice because I think you're nice too and I'd really like to talk to you but…well…just not a good idea. I can't meet you because 1. You really wouldn't like me if you knew me and 2. Cleo wouldn't like us hanging out together, not trying to be mean but, really, it would just cause you more fights and I don't want that. Same with texting. You'd know who I was. I thought for awhile we could just do the notes like this but I know that won't work either. Taping the notes on your locker is going to be noticed really soon. Kinda amazing it hasn't been brought up yet though I know she got mad about the one I showed you which is why this one is in your locker not on your locker. But, anyway, it's still not going to work. We keep taping things on your locker and it's going to soon turn into a rumor or someone other than one of us will grab the note or just…lots of things could go wrong. So, anyway, I'm rambling but the point of it is…I'm glad you're happy again and I don't want to do anything to risk that so, thanks for the offer but I won't take you up on it and this will be my last note. –SN"

********Not the End*****Will Be Continued*******


	8. Friends?

Deuce wasn't listening. The teacher was droning on about something and Clawd was giving him worried looks but Deuce just couldn't seem to focus. She had said no. No talking. No more notes. He'd been distracted ever since he had read the note. Partly because he couldn't figure out why he was so upset. It was the perfect solution to everything. She had ended it herself before there had been any problems. Cleo would never know of his impulse. It was over. Everything was okay but Deuce was not happy about it and he wasn't even sure why. He had no reason not to be happy about it.

He glanced around the class. Ghoulia was already working on the lab while the teacher talked and Cleo was working on her nails. She caught him looking and smiled. He smiled back at her. He was a lucky man. She was beautiful and poised and strong and his and everything was fine...except...except what.

He couldn't talk to someone he didn't even know. What did it matter? What did it really matter? He hadn't known the person existed until two days ago so what did it matter? But it did matter. So, why did it matter?

His mind pushed and prodded that question from all directions. Why did it matter? Because he wanted to talk to this person, to this one person that had gone completely out of her way to help him and the only reason he couldn't was because of Cleo's insecurity. She was strong and beautiful but she was so insecure. Her father and sister had really done a number on her, making her feel so inferior at home that she constantly had to prove that she was 'worthy'. And she was more than worthy, especially when she wasn't trying so hard. When she wasn't so obsessed with worrying over being good enough and worthy enough and scared that someone might think she wasn't the best, she was sweet. She cared about people but her constant worry got in the way of her showing it...and it got in his way too.

His head jerked back in physical reaction to that unwanted thought. No, she didn't get in his way. She made him a better Deuce, didn't she? But, if he was honest, he had found a good friend in Operetta, someone that shared a love of the same music he liked, music Cleo didn't like. Once Cleo had understood that Operetta and him had been spending time together to work on a song for her, Deuce had been relieved and had figured it would all be ok and it was...but it wasn't. Operetta had been fun to hang out with. She had been a friend and, yet, they never hung out anymore. She never came near to speaking to him anymore except during SKRM practice and they were on the same team. He had lost a friend because, he hated to say it but it was true, he had lost that chance of a good friendship because of Cleo's insecurity...and now he was losing another chance.

He looked around and quickly counted his friends. He had three...maybe. Clawd, of course, and Heath and he had been hanging out with Romulus but not nearly as much anymore. When had that happened? His jaw clenched. It had happened when Cleo had accused him of having and affair with one of the werewolf girls. Hanging out with Romulus included his pack half of the time. It had to. He was Alpha and were he led they went, including the girls. Nothing had been going on but Cleo hadn't believed him and so...he had hung out with Romulus less and less.

This wasn't fair. He was losing friends and losing out on chances of friends because of her insecurity and, now, he had just lost another one.

He didn't want to upset Cleo. He didn't want her to worry but did he have to cut off everyone else? Really?

It was obvious he had to do something because it was bothering him and, by the end of class, he knew what to do.

He ducked out of class as soon as the bell rang, mumbling an excuse of needing to get something done before final period, and headed out to get everything ready. He needed to scout out a good area, grab the lock off his gym locker (he'd replace that later and it wouldn't hurt anything since he needed to take everything home to wash anyway) and write a note. This might not be a good idea but he wasn't going to miss out on another friend. He, also, made a mental note to call up Romulus and arrange for a guys' night soon.

After school, Purrsephone headed towards the fearbook room alone. Toralei needed some pictures of the various teams practicing and had made arrangements last week with the coach to get the pictures of the SKRM team today. She couldn't reschedule it without a lot of questions but she had known, even without Purrsephone saying anything, that it would be too painful for the twin to be there to see him today. Toralei and Meowlody had done a good job of helping her avoid seeing Deuce all day but this was something they couldn't avoid. So, they had done the only thing possible to help her. They had sent her ahead to the fearbook office on the excuse of working on some layouts.

Unfortunately, avoiding going near the gym took her by his locker but better just a piece of metal than the manster himself. Her gaze was drawn to the locker in question against her will and she was literally stopped in her tracks.

There on the locker was another note. It was in a sealed green envelope and had the words "SN, Please Read!" written across it.

She was across the hall grabbing it before she even thought about it then she was running through the halls to the fearbook office. Her hands were shaking and it took her more than one try to get the door open but she ducked inside and locked it again as quick as she could.

Sitting down, she stared at the envelope for several minutes. What was he doing? She had done what needed to be done. What could he possibly have to say to her? She didn't understand this and there was only one way to understand.

Her tail lashed back and forth in agitation as she opened up the envelope and took out the note.

"SN, I understand why you said what you said and I respect that you don't want to cause me problems. I appreciate that, I really do but I still want to talk to you. I don't understand why you think I wouldn't like you if I knew you and I don't understand why we shouldn't be able to at least talk. I mean I know Cleo would misunderstand but, still, all I want to do is talk and maybe get a new friend and you said that's what you want too and if you'd wanted to cause trouble you never would have helped me. So, look, I'll work on Cleo so she'll understand but I want to be friends with you. I know you're nice and I know you helped me out when I really needed it so let me help out us being friends. I put a lock on an empty locker. It's number 320. It's in an out of the way corner. The combination is 3-1-20. If you still want to be friends then drop me a note in that locker and I'll drop notes back the same way. That way, you feel safer and we can get to know each other and, hopefully, eventually we'll be able to be friends and you can hang out with Cleo and me and all our friends. This won't cause problems so don't use that as a reason to not to write back. I may not be the best pen pal but I'll try. Ok? Please?"

AN: Don't cliff hangers suck, lol. Anyway, this is a shameless request for feedback. I love feedback. All kinds, sizes and shapes welcome. lol


	9. Penpals

AN: To JB, flyingdutchmen, YOLO and guest. Thanks all for the reviews. I'm glad you're all enjoying it.

And now on to the next part

Purrsephone was still struggling with what to do when she heard the doorknob jiggle. It was quickly followed by a bang on the door and worried voices calling her name. Hopping off the chair, she unlocked the door to let in two very worried werecats.

On seeing her, Toralei immediately closed and locked the door while Meowlody slipped an arm around Purrsephone's shoulder, softly demanding, "What's wrong?"

For an answer, like the previous day, Purrsephone held out the envelope and note. Toralei took it from her and looked at the envelope.

The orange tabby's mouth lifted in a slight sneer. "Should've guessed."

Meowlody briefly glared at her friend before moving so she could read over Toralei's shoulder. After reading it, they both looked at Purrsephone, confused.

Meowlody tilted her head, tail curling and uncurling. "Isn't this a good thing?"

Purrsephone shrugged. "I don't know. I was all ready to give up, you know, and he says it won't be a problem but Cleo won't take it well. You know she won't. And he's never going to forgive me for what we've pulled on his girlfriend."

Toralei bristled softly. "She deserved every bit of it."

"I know she did," Purrsephone nodded without sarcasm. "After everything...but that doesn't matter. Not to him. He's never going to see it that way and I was right, he's not going to want to be friends if he finds out who's really writing those notes."

Toralei gave a little giggle. "Can you imagine the three of us hanging out with Cleo like he's hoping."

Meowlody, however, didn't let the conversation get sidetracked. "You don't know that for sure, Purrsephone. You can't tell the future. Take another chance."

The dark-haired werecat frowned, "But Cleo-"

"Is his problem. He thinks he can convince her to not freak over the notes. He's probably wrong but that's his problem. You're not keeping the notes a secret from her, he is so it's on him."

"But if he knew-"

Her twin cut her off again, "Right now, yes, he'd be mad but he doesn't know you. He's already figured out you're nice. So, let him find out about you, the real you not the rumor you and find out about him, the real him not your fantasy him."

Purrsephone's tail swished back and forth in time with her thoughts. Maybe...

Meowlody sat on the desk near her, kicking her booted feet. "C'mon, take another chance. You've gotten this far. No telling what will happen if you take another one."

Purrsephone's voice was low but less resistant. "It could all blow up."

Toralei leaned back against the desk. "If it does, then we'll put the pieces back together. What have you really got to lose?"

The next morning, Deuce forced himself to wait until after first period to go check the locker to give the ghoul a chance to write him a note. He had decided not to tell Cleo about the notes yet. Better to see if SN, as he was calling her without a better name, had wrote back before starting a fight that might not even be needed especially when things were going so well. He and Cleo had gone to the movies on a double date with Draculaura and Clawd. Everything had gone been the way it usually was. Cleo and Draculaura had gossiped and taken several side trips into various stores and he and Clawd had carried all their bags for them. Well, it did get a little out of hand when Cleo counted the bags and realized Draculaura had more than her. She had insisted on hitting more stores until she had more bags than her little friend, at which point they had almost missed the last showing but they'd made it so no harm done.

As soon as Cleo had kissed him goodbye on her way to fearleading practice, though, the temptation to go check on the locker had been almost overwhelming. However, he didn't know when the ghoul had gotten his note and there was no way to tell if she had had enough time to respond or not. Of course, going after first period still didn't give her much time but his curiosity was too strong to wait any longer.

Quickly spinning the dial, he unlatched the lock and looked inside. His mouth immediately broke into a grin when he saw a note. He quickly snagged it and headed off to another part of the school to read it in quiet.

"Hi, I may not be the best pen pal either but I'll try. Of course, that means I don't know what to write now. I mean what can I tell you that won't tell you who I am and I'm really not ready for that. I guess the safest thing to tell you is stuff I like. I really like gymnastics and I like music I can dance to especially when I can combine them. I, also, like movies but I like action movies more than romantic girly flicks. I don't know why but I usually don't like the romance things. The ghouls in them annoy me too much. The only time I really watch them is when I'm with my ghouls, eating ice cream and making fun of them like turning down the volume and making up our own lines. I think our stuff is a lot better than what was originally written anyway. Ummmm, trying to think if I should put anything else in here but really coming up dry. The only other thing I can think of right now is fave subject which is mad science. So, your turn. What do you like to do? I mean I know you like sports but what else and maybe even why you like SKRM and Casketball."

Deuce smiled and slipped the note into his pocket as he headed to second period trying to think of what to write back. She was right. This was kind of awkward. What to say to someone you didn't know but already felt close to? Still, at least she was trying and he had promised he would too and he stuck by his promises. Besides, this kind of awkward was nothing compared to the awkward that he was going to run into later today when he had to talk to Cleo about this. Still, that was later. He quickly pulled out his notebook and wrote a note back while the teacher took attendance.

"Hey! Thanks for writing back. You're right, this is kind of weird but I think it's nice. I like listening to music, especially stuff with a jamming beat. I'm not really into dancing by myself but it's fun at parties. I don't do gymnastics but you're right that I like sports. It's just fun to push myself, see what I can do. I don't care so much about the winning or points but I just like seeing if I can make it or not if that makes any sense. My fave subject is kind of a secret but I like cooking. I say I don't because I got teased about it when I was younger but it's actually really cool. I like coming up with new stuff. What you and your friends do with the movies sounds like fun and really creative. Hopefully, I can get in on that some time. Trying to think of other stuff you about me you wouldn't know from just asking around. Kind of weird that, I don't know anything about you but you already know quite a bit about me. I don't even know if you're seeing anybody or which grade you're in. Well, that's not true. I know the important things. You're nice and helpful and that really is the important stuff, you know. Just to let you know since it's kind of your business, I'm gonna talk to Cleo tonight. I'm supposed to meet her at the maul. Hopefully, she won't go on another shopping trip again, my arms are still sore from last night, lol. Do you hang out at the maul? What was the last movie you saw?"

He dropped it off right after second period was over, leaving quickly so he didn't scare off the ghoul, whoever she was.

Torale peeked around the corner. "Coast's clear."

Purrsephone went over to retrieve the note while her friend and sister watched out for her. Reading it quickly, she, unknowingly, copied Deuce and wrote back during attendance, still using the term friends instead of my sister and my friend since that would be too much of a tip off of who she was.

"Hi back, Sounds like you like sports for the same reason you like cooking. You like seeing what you can do with what you know and your skills. I can understand that. It's part of why I like gymnastics and dancing. You can get real creative with it and my friends and I've seen some really complicated stuff when it comes to dancing. Stuff that really pushes the balance and body and stuff and it's fun to try out. I'm glad you're gonna tell Cleo and hope it goes well. My friends already know by the way, I mean they know I'm writing to you but I'm not gonna tell them anything private or anything like that. Yes, my friends and I do like to hang at the maul but we usually don't buy anything. My family really doesn't have a lot of money so I really can't shop much or mostly at all. Part of me says not to tell you that cause you might think I'm trying for sympathy but, if this is gonna work, gotta be honest, right? Anyway, happier note. I did get to see Jack the Normal Slayer in the theater last weekend. My friend's boyfriend got extra tickets so I got to go. He's really sweet like that. About once a month, he treats his girlfriend's friends, including me, to a movie or something. Anyway, have you seen it? It's a lot of fun and the effects were great. The normals looked so real. I mean they didn't look like real normals of course but they looked like something that could actually exist. It was pretty cool. Oops, class is starting, gotta close."

Deuce grinned when he saw that SN had responded so fast and made sure to get his response written during attendance, ignoring the curious looks from his friends. He'd explain later. During lunch would be best or at the maul. The maul would probably be easier, then he could just explain to everyone at the same time and the mansters could help him convince Cleo. He made sure to get the next note into the locker right as lunch began so, hopefully, she could answer it before his next class. He was enjoying the notes. She was definitely nice and he liked that she seemed to try to focus on the good and not dwell on bad things. He found her mention of her friend's boyfriend interesting. The whole group of them sounded nice and fun and Deuce hoped to add them to his group of friends soon.


	10. Frustration and Revenge

At lunch, Deuce sat down with Clawd and Romulus since Cleo was busy with her ghouls working on prom plans. Heath had wandered off with Manny after being blown off by Abbey...again which, bad as it sounded, was fine with Deuce today. Heath wasn't a bad guy but Deuce had serious things on his mind that the flame elemental just wouldn't understand.

Clawd, who was more observant than people gave him credit for, immediately asked, "So, what's up, dude?"

Deuce answered with a less than eloquent, "Huh?"

"You've been writing and taking off after class like...I don't know. So, what's up, you writing another song with Operetta?"

A brief pang of regret flashed through him. Writing that song had been a lot of fun and he wished he'd made more of an effort to maintain that friendship so that they could have done it again. If he had started making sure to keep his friends that were ghouls earlier then he might not have to be resorting to notes now and dreading the conversation he planned after school. Still, getting the guys on his side now might not be a bad idea. "No, not anything like that. You know that note I got earlier this week?"

Clawd nodded but Romulus shook his head. "What note?"

"Earlier this week, Cleo was really mad at me and I didn't know why until a ghoul left a note on my locker telling me about it."

"Why didn't she just-" He stopped as Clawd and Deuce looked at him. "Yeah, Cleo."

"Yeah, well, anyway, she seems really nice but she doesn't want me to know who she is 'cause she thinks it will cause problems."

Clawd nodded. "Dude, it would but at least it..." He trailed over and put down his burger. "She's not still leaving you notes, is she?"

"Well, yeah but-"

"Dude, Cleo's gonna bust a bandage that you have a secret admirer."

Deuce tensed. "She's not a secret admirer, she's nice and she's already been a good friend to me."

"But to keep writing to you."

"I asked her to." Deuce took a deep breath and held Clawd's gaze. "She's nice and she's not acting like a secret admirer. She's nice. Cleo needs to understand that I can have friends who happen to be ghouls."

Romulus tilted her head. "Normally, I'd say yeah you can. I mean, look at my pack, but after what happened the last time you hung out with us...Cleo's not going to agree."

Clawd nodded, "Yeah, and hiding this from her is not cool."

"I'm not gonna hide it from her. I'm gonna tell her after school today." Deuce's fist clenched in unaccustomed frustration. "She should trust me. I've never given her any reason not to. I've never cheated on her. I've been avoiding every ghoul in the school to reassure her. This is ridiculous, I haven't done anything wrong."

Clawd held up his hands. "Hey, dude, calm down. We know that, we're just..." He trailed off and looked over at Romulus.

The other werewolf nodded. "We know you're not doing anything wrong but we're not Cleo."

Deuce nodded. "Yeah, I know. It's just not fair and it's frustrating and...and I'm not giving up another friend."

Clawd leaned forward. "Dude, I get it that it's not fair but is some ghoul you don't even really know who doesn't even tell you her name worth risking your relationship with Cleo?"

"You don't get it, Clawd." The snakes on his head hissed, reflecting his internal anger. "This isn't about the notes. This is about her forcing me to drop friends. Operetta won't talk to me, I haven't seen Romulus outside of lunch in I don't know how long, I haven't made a new friend since then. I know she worries but this has gone too far for too long. I found someone willing to be a friend to me, who took a risk. I mean if she'd been caught dropping off those notes..." All three mansters shivered at the thought of what might have happened. "But she still took the risk. I can't be less brave than her, can I?"

Clawd and Romulus nodded in understanding.

Clawd tilted his head. "You want backup tonight when you tell her?"

Romulus grinned, "Yeah, or some undertakers when she kills you."

Decue laughed at their good-natured way of letting him know he could rely on them.

Purrsephone wasn't writing her return note during lunch. It was payback time for the vampiresses. It was all arranged and it might have been an older prank, a repeat, but it was a good one and would teach Belfrey Prep that cats had claws and didn't like being toyed with.

She and Meowlody were hidden near the edge of the roof of the entrance of the school. Being the editor of the fearbook, Toralei had arranged for the Belfrey Prep refugees to gather for a "look at our legacy" portrait to be "prominently featured" in the fearbook, a look back at all the major events of the year. The vampires had just eaten it up with all the inferred pomp and circumstance, just like Cleo's group had after Mashionals.

The Belfrey group were arranging themselves on the steps of the school, jockeying for best positions even though, if they thought about it for even a few minutes they'd remember that only their clothes were going to show up on camera. It was really kind of sad how eager they were to have their picture taken when vampires didn't even appear on camera. Still, that was just another reason to target them.

They could hear Toralei clearly. "Ok, everyone ready, 1, 2,-"

That was their signal. The twins quickly upended the two buckets of water, making sure to get the whole group as Toralei snapped pictures. Peering over the edge, they enjoyed the sight of the vampires realizing exactly what they had been doused with. The reek from the garlic water was strong even up here and the werecats breathed shallowly even as they giggled at the sight of the vampires pushing away from each other and trying to hold their wet clothes and hair away from themselves. Vampires couldn't stand the smell of garlic and for it to be all over their clothes and hair and skin...well it was no surprise that there was a mob fighting to get into the school to get to the bathrooms and Toralei made sure to capture it all on lovely film. Oh, this would definitely need a very prominent position in the fearbook...and maybe a few posters for the boards.

They were still laughing as they headed in a side entrance to grab some lunch before the bell rang.


	11. Trust

Deuce smiled when he, Romulus and Clawd found Cleo at the maul. She was definitely in a good mood which was always nice. Her and her ghoul friends were sitting on some of the maul's benches laughing. As they drew nearer, he realized she was talking about what had happened to the Belfrey Prep vampires earlier that day.

"I wish I could have seen their faces when it happened." The Egyptian girl dramatically sighed.

Clawdeen grinned, fangs showing, "I'm sure it'll be in the fearbook. I heard Toralei snapped pictures all through it and you know how she is."

Draculaura seemed caught between a smile and a frown. "That totes mean to do to a vampire. I heard that they had to call the parents to bring new clothes and everything."

"Yes but they completely deserved some comeuppance after what they tried to do earlier this week." Cleo obviously had no sympathy.

Frankie seemed thoughtful. "Maybe but what I can't figure out is why Toralei did it to them."

Cleo flipped her hair back over a shoulder. "As if that one needs a reason to be mean to anyone." She looked up and noticed the guys. Smiling, she patted the seat next to her and Deuce sat down.

Draculaura grinned and stood up to wrap herself around Clawd in welcome while Romulus gave a general wave to everyone and sprawled into the chair Draculaura had just vacated.

They continued to talk about the werecats' prank while Deuce worked on how to introduce the subject he wanted to talk about. Usually, with something touchy, he would try to talk to the person in private but Cleo was different. He was hoping that her friends might be able to help calm her down if she started getting worked up. After all, they were always the first voice of reason other than his when things like this came up so, private as this conversation should be, it had a better chance of success with the right audience. Clearing his throat, he forced himself not to put it off any longer. "Ummmm, hey, Cleo, I've got something I wanted to talk to you about."

She turned the full force of her smile one him, her eyes open expectantly. "You already got our reservations for prom?"

He blinked. That had completely slipped his mind, though to be truthful he hadn't really worried about it. He knew she would already know where she wanted to go and he only had to wait to be told so...He shifted a little uncomfortably. "Well, no, that's not it." He hurried on before she could interrupt. "You know that note I got from that ghoul this week."

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes. She hasn't written again, has she?" He opened his mouth to answer but she was already talking. "Oh my Ra, who does she think she is. That's it! Ghoulia, we need to figure out who this ghoul is. If she thinks she can just-"

Deuce put a hand on her arm. "Cleo, stop, please, just listen." She turned back toward him and he could tell he was walking on thin ice. "It's not like that. I asked her to continue writing." She opened her mouth, eyes flashing but he hurried to speak over her. "She's a nice person and she's not trying to cause any problems. In fact, she's been trying very hard not to cause problems. She's just being a friend."

"You're breaking up with me?"

Deuce rolled his eyes behind his dark glasses, for once glad of the shield. "No. Of course not. This is-"

"If you're not breaking up with me then why are you messing around with some other ghoul?" Her voice was hard, accusatory and rising.

Deuce tensed. "I am not messing around on you." She tried to speak but, for once, he talked right over her. "This is just me telling you I made a new friend, nothing more."

"I don't believe you."

"Why not?" She stared at him, obviously surprised by his tone. He knew he was being harsh but he had really had enough of this. "Why don't you believe me yet? I have never cheated on you. Never. You keep accusing me of it and, every time, every single time, it gets proven that you were wrong. That I haven't done anything wrong and the first time I ask you to trust me, you won't? Why not?"

"It's not you I don't trust, it's-"

He cut her off again. "No, it is me you don't trust because if it was them you didn't trust then you'd come to me to tell me when someone told you a rumor instead of screaming at me and dumping me based on someone else's says so. As much as I love you, I'm getting really sick of it. I walk around avoiding monsters and losing touch with friends because I'm worried you'll misunderstand and, you know what? I'm starting to wonder why. Why you won't trust me? Why I have to be so careful? We've been together for over a year and I've never given you any reason to believe that I'm cheating on you. I've done everything possible to help you trust me and if it's not enough, if you still can't trust me then...I don't know. All I know is that I'm just suddenly very very tired." And he was. He felt exhausted and unable to deal with the scene that he knew was coming. Standing up, he pulled away from her attempt to stop him and walked out of the maul, leaving a shocked group behind him.

Unnoticed in the entrance of a nearby store, Toralei looked over at her friends. "Well, now that was epic."

Purrsephone wrapped her arms around herself. Her stomach ached. "I knew this was a bad idea. I knew it. Now look, his relationship is all messed up again!"

Meowlody rolled her eyes. "Oh get over yourself, sister. That over there had nothing to do with you."

"But..." She trailed off miserably as she noticed Rocco approaching with his friends. She did not want to discuss this in front of other monsters so she forced her mouth into a smile even though she kept her eyes down and her tail lashed back and forth as she raised a hand in a small wave as the gargoyles greeted them.

"Hey, guys, go grab some tables so we can hear how things went with the vampires today." Rocco casually dismissed the other gargoyles but he didn't seem in a hurry to get to the story because as soon as the other mansters had left, he immediately demanded. "What's wrong?"

Toralei answered for the ghouls. "What? Nothing the plan went off purrrfectly."

"Then why does Purrsephone look so down. Who do I pound?"

Purrsephone's lips twitched more toward a real smile at the protectiveness in Rocco's voice. He and Toralei really did suit each other. But this just wasn't something that he could help with.

Toralei answered for her again when she remained silent. "It's boy trouble, Rocco. Nothing you can do about it."

The gargoyle, though, was not so easily put off. "Did some guy do something to hurt you or mess with you? You tell me who it is and I'll teach him better manners."

Purrsephone finally did smile and looked up at the big SKRM captain. "It's nothing like that, Rocco. Just," She sighed. He obviously wasn't going to be put off by empty assurances that everything was fine. "It's not his fault. He's just a friend and he's going through a rough time. I'm just sad to see him like that but there's really nothing I can do about it and it's not his fault that I care enough to get upset when he is." She moved to give him a hug of thanks. "I appreciate the offer but, really, there's no one to really be mad at or pound, ok?"

Rocco hugged her back in a brotherly fashion then patted her shoulder. "Ok, but if he does ever hurt you..." She nodded in understanding and he finally let it drop, switching to other topics. "Ok, so let's head over to the tables. I really want to hear how the shower went...and you did bring pictures, right?"

Toralei purred, snuggling into his side as he slipped an arm around her waist. "Oh definitely and you won't be disappointed."

He smirked as he dropped a kiss on her head. "Never am."

As Meowlody and Purrsephone followed, the white-haired sister leaned in. "Are you really sure you want snake boy instead of someone solid like that. You know half the Granite City SKRM team is in love with you."

Purrsephone giggled, her ears twitching, "Yeah, and the other half is in love with you but, you know, I really think Toralei got the best of the bunch. Besides, what about you? I don't see you taking them up on anything more than the sodas and fries and maybe a date or two."

Meowlody shrugged. "Ok, I confess, they're cute but I don't want a second fiddle either. They follow him 'cause he's better than them. I want someone as good as him and why should I settle for less than I want? Besides, I'm having too much fun to settle down anytime soon."


	12. What's Fair?

The next morning, Deuce headed over to the locker. He had not slept well the previous night, again, thinking about what had happened at the maul. He had been rough on Cleo and more than once he had reached for his icoffin to send her an apology only to pull his hand back.

The problem was, he wasn't sure he was wrong. He had once told Operetta that Cleo made him a better Deuce and he still believed that. Cleo was not as confident as she appeared. Her father constantly compared her to her sister and never in a good way. Nefera went out of her way to make Cleo feel like less than she was. It caused her a lot of problems and Deuce had tried to help her, tried to make her see that she was special. He had been the best Deuce he could be for her and…it hadn't been enough.

He'd been a better Deuce but Cleo was just not getting any better. She was still so insecure that the thought of him talking to another ghoul sent her into a jealous rage. She was still so insecure that she even had to show up her own friends in order to get attention. When the ghouls had won the SKRM championship, Cleo had still had to be front and center in the picture even though she had really had nothing to do with it. It wasn't malicious on her part but…it showed she wasn't getting any better and Deuce finally had to admit to himself, he couldn't fix her. He desperately wanted to but, obviously, he couldn't.

So, where did that leave him and her. He wasn't sure and he didn't know who to ask. He certainly wasn't going to ask Heath and he and Romulus were not tight enough for him to ask. Clawd and him were definitely bros but with Clawd's ghoulfriend being so close to Cleo…he wasn't sure that he could trust the manster's point of view. Clawd was a good friend but if this was upsetting Draculaura, Clawd would probably want Deuce to do what was best for Draculaura and that didn't mean it would be best for Deuce. He didn't blame the werewolf for it, he just didn't think he could go to the werewolf because of it.

Which left only one monster that he called friend. He wrote the note before heading to school and dropped it into the locker before walking to the gym. He didn't know why he was going to watch fearleading practice. Maybe he was hoping Cleo would show him that she was willing to give him the trust he'd demanded the previous night. He didn't think it would since she hadn't tried to contact him at all since yesterday but he could always hope, right?

Fearleading practice was not fun today. Purrsephone twitched her tail in annoyance as Cleo went into another rant about them not being good enough. She didn't care very much for herself since Cleo's opinion didn't mean anything to her. She didn't even care that the Egyptian had almost made Draculaura burst into tears since she didn't care about Draculaura one way or the other. However, when Cleo started on Frankie…Purrsephone hissed softly between her teeth, echoed by her sister and friend.

Frankie wasn't their friend, but she had helped out Rocco which put her on their good side and it was beyond unfair for Cleo to be taking her anger out on Frankie. It was Frankie that had put the team back together after Cleo had driven the original team to quit. It was Frankie that had kept it together when Cleo declared them too worthless to perform at a casketball game. Frankie was the only reason Cleo even had a fearleading team and the Egyptian was tearing into her after her stitches had slipped loose again. What did Cleo expect? Frankie's stitches were always loose. Shouldn't the fearleading captain have remembered that and checked the stitches instead of just going off like that.

Toralie motioned the twins over. "Ok, ghouls, I've had it. It's time to pay Frankie back for Rocco."

Meowlody nodded but added, "She won't think us for messing with Cleo though."

Toralei's ears twitched. "Oh, I'm not going to do a thing to Cleo. That would be too easy. No, I know exactly what we're going to do. Today after school during casketball practice."

Purrsephone lifted her ears in interest. "Good because this can't go on too long."

Meowlody smiled at her sister. "Oh, I don't know. The scene last night looked pretty final and this probably will make it more so. All the better for you, hmmmm?"

Purrsephone's face immediately fell. "So, you do think it's my fault?"

Her sister and Toralie both immediately shushed her. "No, it's not your fault. You haven't tried to break them up, have you?"

She shook her head.

"Then it's their business and their fault not yours, ok?"

Purrsephone nodded, comforted by her sister's words.

Torale smiled. "Don't worry. Whatever happens today just isn't our fault." Her mischievous smile was reflected in her eyes and returned by the werecat twins.

She didn't go to the locker until after first period, though, and only then because her sister wouldn't leave her alone about it. She was sure Deuce wasn't going to write to her. Not when her notes had caused so much drama so she was shocked when there was a new note from him. Grabbing it quickly, she ignored Toralei and Meowlody's 'told you so' looks and led them to their next class so she could find out what he wrote.

"Hey SN, I don't know if you've heard but I talked to Cleo about you last night at the maul like I promise. It didn't go well and, just to be clear, you're not the problem. I don't know if you'll think that or not but I figure you've been so worried about being a problem I wanted to make sure you knew you are not the problem. The problem is…and I'm trusting you not to go repeating this but as you said, for this to work, we gotta be honest, the problem is Cleo is just so insecure. It's not getting any better and I'm not helping at all. I'm just tired of constantly trying to help. Do you think I'm being selfish because I don't want to keep going through this drama? I mean I care about her, I love her but I don't know. No matter what I do, no matter what I give up, no matter how much I change, it's never enough. Sorry to dump this on you but I don't know what else to do and I needed to talk to someone. Thanks."

Purrsephone didn't hear one word of the class as she planned out and wrote her response.


	13. Painful Thoughts

Purrsephone quickly dropped the note in the locker and then joined Toralei and Meowlody in the hunt for Frankie. They found her just as she was about to head into class and headed her off.

She looked at them nervously. "Ummmm, hey?"

Toralei smiled her friendliest smile which Purrsephone guessed would make Frankie still worry considering their reputation. "Hey, Frankie."

The patchwork girl hugged her books closer to her chest. "Look, I don't want any trouble…"

Toralei shook her head. "We're not here for trouble. Look, I know you've been having trouble with the new routine. So, if you want, meet us after school in the gym and we'll help you work on it."

"But…afterschool in the gym is casketball practice." She obviously didn't trust the offer, not that Purrsephone blamed her.

"I know but we're not going to need that much room…besides, I figured you'd feel safer meeting us if your friend's boyfriend and his friends were around."

Frankie blushed at the implication that she wouldn't feel safe around the werecats.

Toralei continued on. "Look, it'll just be practicing the routine so you can get better. No tricks. No pranks. Nothing else. I promise. Just show up and we'll help you, ok?"

Purrsephone could tell Frankie was still suspicious but her trusting nature was getting the better of her and she stared hard at Toralei. "You promise?"

"Yes."

"Your promise that all I have to do is show up and you'll help me with the routine and nothing else?"

"Yes."

Frankie still looked unsure. "You really think you can help?"

"Don't worry, Frankie, considering some of the other people I've taught, you'll be a breeze. Just show up in uniform after school and you'll have the routine down purrrrfect by the time we're through."

The ghoul's mismatched eyes lit in happiness and she bounced a little as she agreed. "Great! I'll see you then."

Deuce had made sure to sit in the back of the class to read the note he'd found, curious about what SN might say and hopeful that it would help him feel better.

"Deuce, I'm really not sure what to say here. I don't think you're selfish. Selfish people never try to help anybody or, when they do, they want credit for it or it's so rare that it seems amazing to their friends. You're not selfish. Selfish people don't try to make friends with normies and selfish people don't try to understand people yelling at them and selfish people never ever wonder if they are selfish. As for what you're going through with Cleo, I'm so sorry to hear that you two are fighting again and I really don't have any advice for that. Only you can say if you should stay with her or not. I will say this though – You can't fix other people. People have to fix themselves. If someone isn't ready to fix themselves, there's nothing you can do. I had a cousin that got involved in really bad stuff. Her family and my family and her boyfriend and her friends did everything they could to fix her. Nothing worked. She didn't want to be fixed. I don't know if Cleo can be fixed. I don't know if there is anything to fix and I'm not going to make assumptions about her or you. Like I said, only you can say anything about that for sure. However, it's not selfish to want to stop getting hurt. It's natural. Good luck whatever you decide. SN"

Deuce smiled as he read it again. He had been right. She had given him good advice and had made him smile, even if it was only for a moment. She was also right that it was his choice. What to do? He knew Cleo was still mad. She had been beyond her usual demanding self. Nothing they had done had been right. She had yelled at them over the least mistake and he figured it was partly his fault. He had never done to her what he had done last night. He had never gone so long without trying to fix it. He had never told her he was tired of dealing with her. She was probably scared. He knew she would be feeling insecure and out of control and she hated that feeling and she had taken it out on the team.

She had almost made both Frankie and Draculaura cry and Clawdeen had actually stomped out of practice. The werecats had mostly ignored her which had only made her worse. Cleo had even snatched Ghoulia's computer away for 'not paying attention' and Cleo never touched Ghoulia's computer.

Yes, she was definitely scared but, still, she shouldn't have taken it out on her friends just because she was mad at him. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became at the way she was acting. Just because someone didn't do what she wanted didn't give her the right to make other people miserable. Why hadn't he seen it before?

He sighed. He knew the answer to that. He had loved her and he didn't want to see anything bad about her but after seeing her tonight…to yell at Ghoulia and Frankie…two ghouls who had never been anything but nice to anyone…especially Ghoulia who dealt with Cleo's demands with such never ending patience. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair but it was just Cleo.

He rubbed the scales on his head. It was just Cleo and she was never going to change…or at least not until she was ready to and she would never be ready to as long as doing what she did got her what she wanted: popularity, control, him.

He sighed again. SN was right. He couldn't fix her. Only she could fix herself. Not only couldn't he fix her, he was changing in ways he didn't like while she wasn't changing at all. He'd been going out of his way to help her not change. He hated to say it but he hadn't been doing her any favor letting her control him. He thought he had. But he hadn't. By letting her control him through the constant threat of her anger, he had let her continue to cover up her insecurity with demands and anger. Honestly, when was the last time they had really had fun? Even at carnivals, they would have fun until she would see how many prizes Clawd had won and then she would demand more. When she shopped, she had to buy more. When pictures were taken, she had to be in front. Everything was a competition for her and he didn't like competition. He never had and he was tired of always trying to win games he didn't think were that important.

His heart squeezed in pain but he just couldn't see how staying together was good for either of them. It was over. He should probably tell her. If she'd let him.


	14. It's Over

Deuce finally caught up with Cleo during lunch. She immediately turned her back on him when he approached which wasn't a good sign but he wasn't expecting any good signs. Clawd and Romulus tried to wave him over to their table and even Clawdeen gave him a threatening look but putting this off wasn't going to make things any better. He kept walking towards her table but had to stop when Clawd literally got in his way.

"Hey, I wanted to remind you about SKRM practice Saturday."

Deuce nodded. Of course he knew SKRM practice was Saturday. It was every Saturday during the few weeks that casketball and SKRM season overlapped. He knew Clawd was just trying to help him out and he appreciated it, but the werewolf had the wrong idea this time.

"Well, I figured that, as captain I needed to you know touch base with everyone and go over plans...like now...over there."

Deuce placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, no problem, bro. I'll be right there as soon as I take care of this."

Clawd looked at him like he was crazy, maybe he was, but Deuce stepped around his friend and walked up to Cleo's table anyway. "Hey, Cleo, can I talk to you in private?"

The Egyptian woman looked over her shoulder, her eyes frosty with fury. She was beautiful and she was scary. "If you're here to try to apologize, you can just do it here. You embarrassed me in public, you should apologize in public."

He wondered if she truly realized the irony of that statement. How many times had she embarrassed someone in public only to reconcile in private? He pushed the negative thoughts away. This was going to be hard enough without picking any additional fights. "Look, Cleo, I think this would really rather be done in private. So, can we please go somewhere alone for a minute."

Her eyebrow raised, "No. You can do your grovelling right here. I doubt it will help you after the way you treated me but you can try."

"I'm not going to apologize." Her eyes sparked and he spoke up again before she did. "I'm no good for you, Cleo. We're not good for each other. I thought I was helping but..." He let that trail off. She wasn't going to listen to him right now. She was too angry. He needed to just keep this simple. "I'm sorry, Cleo. You're beautiful. You're wonderful. But, it's over."

"Oh my Ra! You're dumping me!?" Her voice was bouncing off the walls and her volume was making his ears hurt. "How dare you? Me? Why? It's that tramp, isn't it? The one you've-"

He cut her off again, raising his own voice to be heard. "It's got nothing to do with anyone but you and me, Cleo! We're through because of this." He waved his hand to take in the whole situation. "Your anger is just...Look, I'm not getting into this with you. Not here. Not in public. But, I'm telling you and the whole school. No one else has anything to do with this break-up but you and me and anyone that says different is a liar."

He turned and walked away, leaving her to be soothed by her friends. There was nothing more he could say without embarrassing or hurting her further and he didn't want that. Instead, he collapsed onto a chair at a table with Clawd, Romulus, Manny and Heath.

The fire elemental gave a low whistle, "Oh man! What were you thinking? She is never going to forgive you for that. You are gonna have to buy her a diamond the size of-"

"Shut up, Heath," Clawd followed his command with a glare but then leaned in closer to Deuce. "You sure about this, dude? I mean...this seems pretty permanent."

Deuce nodded. "It is. We're done. We can't go on like we've been and...I don't know if she can change or if she wants to but I do want to and we just can't go on."

Romulus leaned forward, lowering his voice enough to leave Heath and Manny out of the conversation. "I heard what you said, but, seriously, does this have anything to do with the notes."

Deuce glanced at Heath and Manny but they were distracted by some of the ghouls practicing a new dance step near one of the windows. They weren't bad guys but they were too immature for talk about anything more than how pretty a ghoul was. "She didn't break us up if you're asking. This isn't her fault. But, yeah, the notes sort of did start this. They made me realize how much being Cleo was cutting me off from people and, dudes, being afraid of your ghoulfriend? You know there's something wrong when you spend most of your day worrying if next time you see her she's going to yell at you for nothing. It just kind of woke me up to something that's been bothering me for awhile and brought it to a head but, no, she didn't do anything to break us up and I don't want anyone saying that. She's been nothing but a friend. This break up is my fault and Cleo's. We screwed up." He shrugged. "I should have called her on the trust thing a long time ago and she shouldn't be taking the least little rumor as proof positive that I'm screwing around. But we didn't catch it and it's led to this."

The werewolves nodded sympathetically. "Well, umm, you gonna be up for practice today and tomorrow?"

Deuce smirked, "No, I'm going to go crawl into bed with a box of ice cream." He playfully punched his friend's shoulder good-naturedly. "Bro, I'll be fine and we gotta get ready. Casketball against Zombie High this weekend and SKRM against Granite High next week. They are going down!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the spooketeria, Purrsephone read the note she had found in the locker. "SN, I'm going to talk to Cleo at lunch. It will probably be bad. No matter what gets said, it's not your fault and I'm not going to let her blame you. Thanks for being my friend through this. Hanging out with Cleo and her friends is probably out of the cards now but you can always hang out with my friends and me as long as you're not allergic to dog hair. Hope that made you laugh. Anyway. Now that you don't have to worry about Cleo, and you really don't, when can we meet? I'd like to actually, you know, talk talk to you. How about this weekend? After the game? Just let me know, ok?"

Between discussing plans for the weekend and for after school and the just now public break up, she didn't have time to get a note in before lunch ended but made sure to drop it off before heading to last period. After the bell rang, though, she headed over to the gym with her sister and Toralei to change into their fearleading outfits. Frankie arrived just as they were lacing up their shoes.

They gave her a friendly smile but she didn't seem fully at ease. They didn't blame her though. One of her best ghoul friends was having a really bad day and she was in a room with the monster that had dumped water on her and caused her to accidentally electrocute her friends after Mashionals.

Toralei waved toward her locker. "Go ahead and change and meet us out there. We'll get our area marked off and the music cued up while we're waiting."

She smiled her thanks and the werecats headed out. While Toralei set up the cd player, Meowlody and Purrsephone measured out the space they would need for the routine and set some chairs to mark it off, ignoring the mansters playing casketball, which was hard for Purrsephone. Deuce looked so good in his uniform but she had had a lot of practice pretending not to notice him in public so she managed to pull it off.

As soon as Frankie was out, Toralei motioned them over and the twins formed up a line with Frankie between them.

"Ok, Frankie, let's do the stretches first. Don't need any pulled muscles right before the game tomorrow." As Toralei led them through the warm-ups, Purrsephone smiled feeling her body loosen up.

She and Meowlody, also, made sure to talk to Frankie, reminding her to breath into the stretches and giving her tips on how to push herself a little farther each time. She couldn't match their limberness, of course, since she wasn't a werecat and she, also, hadn't been doing this as long as they had. The three of them had learned these stretches under Nefera who used to spend entire practices on them in order to improve the strength and flexibility of the team as a whole. No matter what else Nefera was, there had been a very good reason the fearleading squad had dominated Mashionals under her and it hadn't been through cheating. Not then.

Next, Toralei put the music on and had the twins and Frankie go through the routine so she could see exactly what the ghoul was doing. Everyone knew that Frankie and Draculaura didn't have the best balance and grace but Frankie did have spirit and the rest could be worked on but Toralei needed to know exactly what she had to work with, where Frankie was right now.

Purrsephone knew that Toralei was a good teacher. After all, though no one seemed to want to remember it, she had taught Cleo when Cleo had first joined the fearleading squad. Nefera, of course, hadn't taught her sister anything and Cleo hadn't even been able to do a cartwheel originally. But, Toralei had worked with her and taught her, to show that the werecat had what it took to be a good fearleading captain. And what had been the reward? Cleo becoming fearleading captain without ever once thanking or even acknowledging Toralei for all of her teaching and a tongue lashing from Nefera for not letting Cleo fall on her face. Purrsephone frowned. They still owed Nefera.


	15. It's A Weird Day

Deuce and Clawd gave up even trying to pretend to practice casketball and went to sit down next to Romulus who had been hanging out at the practice. They hadn't minded the werecats coming in to practice the fearleading as long as they behaved themselves. However, when Frankie showed up, the two had shared a worried glance. What was going on?

They had been trying to keep an eye on what was going on and, so far, it seemed innocent enough with just doing the stretches and then running through the routine but when Toralei and the twins were involved, seemed innocent wasn't any proof. The worry for Frankie was distracting them enough that they finally called a halt to practice so they could keep an eye on things.

Deuce watched as Toralei started taking Frankie step by step through the routine. A few minutes in she stopped the ghoul.

"Ok, I see where you're getting a little out of step. When you do that half turn, you don't take a step. Keep your toes on the ground, shift your weight and move just your heel over. Meowlody, do it slowly so she can see. Frankie, watch her left foot closely."

Frankie was watching in concentration as the werecat very slowly went through the move. Toralei had Meowlody do it a few more times then had Frankie try it, talking the ghoul through every part of it. Then having her repeat it several times until finally, "I did it!" Frankie bounced on her toes in pride and Toralei and the twins briefly clapped, surprising Deuce because he couldn't detect any sarcasm in it.

They seemed to be honest as they told her she was doing a good job and then went on to the next section.

At that section, again, they paused and Toralei had Frankie hold the pose. "No, you need to move your hips a bit more back."

Purrsephone and Meowlody were still on either side of Frankie, doing the moves with her so she could see them and work on her placing during the routine. From behind her, Purrsephone reached out and took hold of Frankie's skirt while Meowlody turned and held Frankie's shoulders. Deuce tensed, ready to spring to Frankie's aid as Toralei moved in as well.

However, instead of doing anything to humiliate her, the werecats used their various holds to slowly adjust her stance until it was a perfect replica of the one the twins had just been in.

Frankie didn't look happy though. Her mismatched eyes were worried as she softly complained, "This pose feels kinda weird and forced."

Toralei nodded. "Of course it does, if fearleading poses were easy and the way we stood naturally, we wouldn't have to practice. After you've done enough times, though, it will feel natural but, for right now, you know you're in the exact right pose when it doesn't feel right...strange as that is."

Frankie laughed and nodded then proceeded to work through that portion again and again, with the werecats helping her adjust her stance until she hit perfect on her own three times in a row.

He had to admit that he was amazed at how patient Toralei was being. She seemed to be doing a good job of teaching too. He just couldn't figure out what her angle was.

Eventually, they ran through the whole routine full speed and Frankie seemed to be doing great until she got to the high kick and her calf separated. Her foot went flying. Before the mansters could react, Purrsephone was already catching it, though, and carrying it back to her.

Toralei was studying Frankie as Meowlody helped her to a chair and Purrsephone was handing her back her leg. "Do you check those stitches before practice?"

Frankie was blushing, embarrassed as she always was when her stitches slipped. "Yeah, I do but when I do anything really energetic they just slip out."

"And you can't tie them any tighter?"

She shook her head miserably. "No. This is as good as I can get them." Her head was hanging as if waiting for Toralei to make fun of her.

Deuce and Clawd were watching closely, ready to intervene if the werecats did anything to hurt Frankie's feelings and Romulus tensed as well, picking up on their mood.

Once Frankie's leg was back on, though, Toralei leaned down to examine the stitches more closely, tapping her lip thoughtfully. After a few moments, she smiled. "I think I might have an idea."

Looking around, the werecat didn't acknowledge the mansters sitting in the bleachers but did walk right over to the benches were the equipment lay. Without asking permission, she snagged the wrapping tape several of the mansters used to wrap wrists and knees for added support.

One of the casketball team immediately called out, "Hey, that's mine."

Not surprisingly, the werecat ignored him but what was surprising is Clawd motioned to the guy to sit back down. "Dude, I'll get you some more. I wanna see what she's planning."

So did Deuce. So far the werecats had been nothing but nice and he didn't know what they could possibly do mean with wrapping tape in front of the whole casketball team but if there was something that could be done, he knew they could think of it.

When Toralei got back, she knelt down. "You checked all your stitches?"

Frankie nodded, confused.

"Ok, I'm going to wrap this around your stitches. It won't affect your movement but it gives support which is why the guys over there use it on their wrists and stuff. Hopefully, it will help hold your stitches in by keeping them from moving and pulling so much, ok?"

Frankie shrugged, smiling. "Sure, I'm willing to try it."

Toralei purred and quickly went to work. Soon, each of Frankie's stitches was taped and Toralei put Frankie and the twins through the routine again.

After they completed it, Frankie was bouncing eagerly on her toes. "How was that? Did I do ok?"

It was odd to see Frankie seeking Toralei's approval and, even wierder, she received it. "That was great. You're gonna wow them at tomorrow's game."

Frankie clapped her hands, still bouncing on her toes. "And the tape makes my leg feel and hand feel more secure. Thanks." She impulsively hugged the werecat. "Thank you!"

Toralei didn't look happy but all she said was. "Yeah, you're welcome, watch the fur."

Frankie immediately took a few steps back, blushing. "Umm, could we go through it one more time. Please."

Toralei looked over at the clock. "Hmmmm, ok, one more time but then I'm heading out."

Frankie thanked her again and Clawd and Deuce looked at each other. "Ok, that's weird."

Deuce nodded in agreement with his friend.

"Of course, today's been a weird day, Toralei being nice, Frankie hugging Toralei, you..." Deuce looked over at Clawd in question. The werewolf looked down and shook his head. "I mean...nothing."

Deuce tilted his head. "What?" The werewolf was hesitant but Deuce pressed on. "C'mon, bro, what."

Clawd muttered softly. "You breaking up with Cleo."

Deuce nodded. "Yeah, weird day."

From behind them, Romulus leaned forward. "Not so weird." They both looked back at him in question. "I mean I wouldn't mind hugging one of those cats myself." He grinned wolfishly.

Deuce nodded. People may have said a lot of things about the werecats but no one had ever argued that they were definitely nice to look at. Not that Clawd could agree, being the only manster present with a ghoulfriend. However, Deuce had sworn off pretty packaging when there was trouble inside. He didn't regret the time he had spent with Cleo, only that it had ended badly but he wasn't going to get himself into another situation like that again.

Later, as he was leaving the school, he made sure to check the locker and smiled as he saw the note, immediately reading it.

"Deuce, Well, lunch was pretty bad for you but I think you handled it all really well. A lot better than some people would've. I don't think we should be hanging out this weekend though for two reasons. 1. Even after what you said, if you start hanging out with a new ghoul, there's going to be rumors and I don't want you to have to deal with them. 2. You went through a break-up. This is when a guy needs other guys. Go do whatever it is guys do after break-ups with your friends and have a guy's weekend. As for later, you're right that we don't have to worry about Cleo anymore if we meet but that wasn't the only reason I said no the last time you asked about who I am. If you meet me face to face. You won't like me. It's better this way."

Deuce frowned. SN was usually right but this time, he knew she was definitely wrong.


	16. School Ralley

It turned out to be a very busy weekend. Deuce spent Friday night hanging out with Romulus and Clawd playing video games and watching action movies. It had been a long time since he had had an uninterrupted night with the guys and he suddenly realized how much he had missed it.

The next day SKRM's practice, also, felt different. Rochelle and Operetta were both talking to him more than they had for a long time. He didn't blame either one for having avoided them before but it hit him again just how afraid Cleo had made other people to even try to be a friend to him. Both of them had taken to avoiding him after Cleo had loudly and dramatically accused them of stealing him or cheating with him. It was nice to be able to actually talk to them again...especially since when you were on a team with someone you needed to be able to communicate.

The practice went better than ever and they were more than ready for their SKRM game the next week against Granite High. Finally, Clawd called a halt so they could all get ready for the spirit rally being held that night.

Deuce was torn about the rally and was tempted to ditch it. Cleo and the fearleaders would be there and, though she hadn't tried to contact him, he worried that she still might do something to embarrass them both. However, he didn't want to let down his team. He was, also, still worried that the werecats were going to try something. Teaching Frankie had been a nice thing to do but everyone knew the werecats didn't do nice. They had given opposing teams information about Monster High in an effort to sabotage their own school's teams more than once which was something Deuce just couldn't understand. It was one thing not to care about sports. It was another thing to work directly against your own school.

So, Saturday night found him at the rally with his team. Waiting to be announced, both he and Clawd lingered where they could watch the floor. The fearleading squad opened the rally with their new routine and neither manster were convinced that the werecats didn't have some kind of prank in store.

When the squad took the gym floor, Deuce immediately noticed that Frankie's stitches were wrapped again and Clawd echoed his own thoughts.

"I wonder if Toralei did the wrapping again?"

Deuce shrugged. "Might ask Draculaura later though I don't see them letting Toralei near enough to Frankie to do it without enough of a fight that we'd all know about it."

Clawd nodded. "I'll have to ask."

The routine went off better than usual. All of Frankie's body stayed in one piece through the whole routine and she hit every spot perfectly as did the werecats. In fact, Frankie's jumps at the end seemed bouncier and more confident than usual. It was weird to think that the werecats had actually done something nice but neither Deuce or Clawd could find any hint of anything wrong.

Even as the fearleading team walked over toward the doors where they would wait while the headmistress and casketball coach made their speeches.

Cleo didn't look towards the door but did give a small smile to Frankie. "That was much better than usual."

Deuce hoped it was a good sign.

Draculaura's smile was even wider. "Yeah, you were totes better. How did you come up with using the tape?"

Frankie grinned and blushed under the praise. "Oh, no, I didn't come up with it." She turned towards the werecats. "Toralei figured it out when she was helping me yesterday."

All the ghouls turned toward the werecats. Toralei stood, hand on hip, studying her other nails, the twins flanking her as usual.

Cleo looked the cat up and down. "You? Helped?"

Purrsephone internally bristled at the Egyptian's tone. And people wondered why they pranked little miss-too-cool? Really?

Toralei took lead as usual, raising a sienna eyebrow. "You're surprised?" She shrugged. "Guess some people just have short memories...Oh wait." She looked around. "Oh of course, I should have realized." Her grin promised mischief but Cleo's curiosity got the better of her.

"What?"

"Well, of course, you can't remember. The zombie isn't around to do your thinking." Toralei's grin was vicious and Purrsephone and Meowlody giggled in appreciation.

Frankie immediately put herself between the ghouls, trying to calm the situation like she usually did. "Toralei is a really good teacher and she figured out the wrapping. Isn't that great? My leg and hand stayed on through the whole thing!"

Purrsephone noticed the SKRM team at the doors behind Cleo. Clawd and Deuce were both watching carefully and she couldn't help wondering if Deuce would interfere on Cleo's behalf. She really hoped that they were done for good because Deuce deserved so much better but she didn't want to put it to the test. Not now. Because she really couldn't deal with seeing him come to Cleo's rescue. Not today. Not when she had had to tell him no about ever meeting him yesterday. She reached out and placed a hand on Toralei's shoulder. Her friend looked back and Purrsephone tried to communicate 'Be nice' silently, without being obvious to the others.

Toralei gave a brief flick of her tail and returned her gaze to the fearleading team in general. "Aren't we supposed to be getting ready for the team's intro?"

Cleo opened her mouth to say something but, just then, they heard the coach starting the build up.

"And now, the moment you've been waiting for!"

Cleo huffed and immediately ordered the ghouls into their positions and the werecats actually restrained themselves from making any comment that the captain should pay better attention than that. The moved into position, fluttering their pom-poms in sort of a gate for the SKRM team to enter in. Purrsephone couldn't resist studying Deuce as he skated by. He moved so strong and sure on his skates. She let herself dream a little bit about how those strong arms would feel around her.

Her sister was already pushing her to make a play for him but Purrsephone knew it was hopeless. The distrust he and Clawd had watched them with yesterday had made that very clear. She would just be the quiet unknown SN, friend and confidant. It wasn't what she wanted but it was what was best.

It would have both gratified her and worried her to know that she was on Deuce's mind as well. As Deuce stood with the rest of the team, only half listening to Clawd's rousing speech, his eyes roamed the audience wondering who SN could be. He was determined to convince her to meet him.


	17. Meet Me?

Monday morning, Purrsephone was smiling and giggling as she and the other werecats headed to the locker. They had had a great weekend. After the school rally, they had managed to get dressed and slip away without further incident, and before Draculaura and Frankie could ask if they could help the vampiress the way they had helped Frankie. Their sensitive hearing had heard the two ghouls discussing it even from across the locker room and none of them had been in the mood for a lengthy confrontation or scene when they would inevitably say no. Frankie had earned their help through helping Rocco. They didn't owe Draculaura anything, especially when Cleo and Clawdeen were making snide comments about it that promised an upcoming scene no matter what the werecats' answer would have been.

After the Monster High rally, they had headed over to Granite High for their rally which had been fun. They had had their rally in a courtyard with a huge bonfire in the middle. The music had great driving beats and the werecats had danced everyone else into the ground. They had crawled into Rocco's car sometime early Sunday morning. Rocco had been too tired to drive so they had all just slept for several hours on the seats. Of course, neither their nor Toralei's parents had noticed that the ghouls didn't show up again until Sunday afternoon but that was not unusual. They'd spent the evening working on a dance routine to one of their favorite songs to dance to, Kiss Kiss by Stella Soleil. She might be a normie but her song was fun to move to. They almost had it perfect and planned on showing it off soon.

Over all, it had been a good weekend. Opening the message locker, she quickly grabbed the note there, part of her finding it odd that she hadn't even worried about whether or not he would write back. She was confident that he did, indeed, like SN. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure that would change if he found out SN was a dark-haired grey werecat. Shoving that thought away, they continued to class still giggling about the gargoyle rally.

During attendance, as was becoming habit, Purrsephone opened the note and read.

"Hey SN, did you have a good weekend? Mine was pretty nice. Mostly hung out with the guys and played casketball and went skating. Saturday, I went out to eat with all the SKRM team. It was a lot of fun. Haven't been able to do it before cause..well, cause the SKRM team has ghouls on it now and Cleo didn't approve. Anyway, hope yours was good. Do you have a big test in your bitology test tomorrow. I do and am totally bummed about it. I'm going to have to spend several hours studying for it and it's the same day as the SKRM match. Way to make sure the team is pumped up, teach. Anyway, I'm gonna be studying for a lot of tonight but can we meet? Please? If you've got the same test, we can study together and if not, well, it'd still be a nice study break. I know you say it's better this way and that I won't like you but I will. You're my friend. I like you. I don't care what you look like. So, meet me tonight?"

She sighed, her heart tightening in her chest as she wrote back. On their way to the locker, both of the other werecats gave her worried looks but in the middle of the hall was not a good place to talk. There was no telling who was listening. It was hard enough to make sure no one was looking when she put the note in her locker.

Deuce kept an eye on the clock so he could check the locker right before second period, smiling when he saw the note from SN. It had surprised him how much he had missed the notes over the weekend. He'd been busy and having fun but he'd found himself wishing he could text her when something fun or interesting had happened. He had honestly missed her. He had missed Cleo too. Usually his phone was almost full of texts from her on the weekend, planning their date, planning his outfit, planning her wardrobe, changing her mind. However, he knew he was going to have to get used to missing Cleo. He still knew he had done the right thing. Her behavior towards the fearleading team had still been bad.

Clawd had told them that after the rally, she had lectured them for over 40 minutes about the werecats disappearing before the after-rally session, about them obviously not practicing enough since some extra practice had improved Frankie, about...well Draculaura had tuned out in there somewhere according to Clawd. Deuce couldn't help a twinge of guilt. He knew Cleo was only being this outrageous because their break-up probably made her feel even more insecure and afraid about her status than usual. He didn't even want to imagine what her father and Nefera might be saying to her. They'd never approved of him to begin with but that wouldn't stop either of them from hurting her. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it that would actually help.

Still, he had had fun over the weekend. Spending time with the team and his friends without worrying about anyone being angry about it had been relaxing. He hadn't realized how tense he was until he relaxed and, when it had hit him, he had wanted to share it with SN and it frustrated him that he couldn't just text her or call her up.

Therefore, he opened up her note eagerly.

"I'm glad your weekend was good. Mine was fun too. I got to go out dancing with my friends. My friend's boyfriend even talked to the DJ to make sure that he played our favorite songs. He doesn't dance but he says he really enjoys watching us. We're working on a new dance routine to a song we like and it should be ready soon though my friend may hold off on it a bit just to tease her boyfriend but that's just fun stuff. Yeah, I've got that Bitology test too and, yeah, not nice to put that kind of pressure on the SKRM team right before a match but I don't think the games are as important to the teachers as our education is, at least not in their opinion. Who knows? As for meeting today, Deuce, I keep telling you, it's not a good idea. I like you too and I don't want to lose our friendship but that's what'll happen if we meet. So, no."

He smiled as he read about her friends and the boyfriend. The manster sounded like a cool guy. He wondered where they had gone dancing since there weren't any clubs around and he didn't know of any dances at Monster High over the weekend. Personally, he'd like to see the new dance routine too. Unfortunately, she was being stubborn. Well, he could be stubborn too. He started writing.

"SN, I know you'll do great on the test. You seem really smart. But, you're wrong about meeting me. We're friends. Meeting won't change that. I just want to be able to talk in more than notes. I like talking to you and it's frustrating to have to wait two classes at the very least to be able to hear back from you. There's so much for us to talk about and notes aren't the best way for them. We can meet in a public place where you won't have to worry about anything happening to you. I'll meet you wherever you say."

"Deuce, We are friend and I understand that notes aren't the best way to talk to friends but for us, it is. I'm not afraid of you. I know you wouldn't ever hurt anyone on purpose, well other than on the SKRM track but that's different. That's to make you smile by the way. But, trust me, you don't want to meet me face to face."

"SN, Laughed on the comment about the SKRM track and almost got in trouble in class. I'm glad you're not afraid of me. But I don't understand why you won't meet. I do trust you but, please, trust me back. I promise that I want to meet you. I promise it's not going to change anything. Or at least not for the worse. I don't know what it is you're worried about but I promise that meeting you isn't going to change how I feel. Please just give me a chance to prove it."

Deuce kept checking back after each period but there wasn't an answer until right after final period.

"I'll meet you at the maul, next to the fountain in front of Forever 2100 at 5 tonight. I'll be wearing a black and white shirt and carrying one of the green envelopes I used before the locker."

Deuce smiled. That gave him enough time to shower and change after SKRM practice without having to rush. SN was just a friend but he still wanted to look good for the first time he met her.


	18. Meeting Face To Face

Purrsephone had spent the entire day more stressed than she could ever remember and her sister and best friend were no help at all. Well that wasn't really fair. They were trying to be helpful. Meowlody had spent all day encouraging her to meet him, pointing out that even though it was a risk it was worth it. The phrase "nothing ventured, nothing gained" had come up a lot. Toralei had said pretty much the same thing but for a different reason. In her opinion, if Deuce was worthy of Purrsephone's affection then he should appreciate it and be thankful when he found out Purrsephone was SN. Toralei still thought Purrsephone could go better but if her friend wanted Deuce then, in the tabby's opinion, she should go claim him.

Regardless of the reason, they pointed out repeatedly that she was selling him and her short by putting off a meeting that was going to come sooner or later. Neither Deuce nor Purrsephone was satisfied with just the notes and would never be fully satisfied so it was going to change eventually, might as well see what happened now rather than waiting and letting her hopes grow when it would just be more painful.

So, here she was, at the maul, with a green envelope and two impatient werecats pushing her along.

"Come on, sister, it's already 5. If you keep dragging your tail, he'll think you didn't show up."

Toralei voiced agreement on the other side. "Yeah, you don't want to keep him waiting unless you've figured out he's just not worth this stress. You know Gary was asking Rocco what your favorite color was just yesterday."

Purrsephone rolled her eyes but it did get her moving. As they approached the appointed meeting place, Purrsephone's tail twitched back and forth nervously. Deuce looked nervous too. He was sitting on the edge of the fountain, his heel tapping restlessly against it, looking around expectantly.

With a last playful push at her back, Meowlody and Toralei split off to sit on a bench so she could have some privacy for the meeting.

Purrsephone still took another moment to study him before approaching. He really was handsome. His sleeveless t-shirt and hoodie exposed well muscled tan arms. The shades enhanced his strong jaw and just overall coolness. The snakes and scales over his scalp glistened like emeralds.

She took a deep breath. No use putting it off. It would just get harder the more she thought about it.

Walking up, holding the green envelope in both hands, she nervously smiled. "Deuce?"

Deuce looked up at the sound of his name and his eyes widened in shock. Standing there, holding a green envelope, wearing a black and white striped shirt was one of the meanest ghouls in school herself—Purrsephone.

Standing up, his eyes immediately searched the area, looking for Toralei and Meowlody because where there was one of the three, there was always the other two. He didn't see anyone else in the little alcove that held the fountain but that didn't make him relax. How had she found out about the meeting? And she was holding the green envelope, how could she know about it unless she really was…"SN?"

Purrsephone nodded softly. "Yeah." Her tail flicked back and forth behind her in strange patterns as she stared at him with large gold eyes.

He stared at her. It couldn't be her. SN never mentioned a sister and Purrsephone was never without Meowlody. This didn't make sense unless…unless they had either stumbled into it and decided to turn this into a huge prank or it had been a prank from the beginning. He needed to know.

She seemed to sense his disbelief. "I know SN stands for Sugar Nips. I know the first two notes were taped to your locker and the third was placed inside your locker. I know that you set up the message locker." She looked away. "Is that enough proof I'm who you were expecting?"

His mouth engaged before his though process completely thrown by this contradiction in front of him. How could sweet kind SN be the ghoul that had humiliated other ghouls more times than he could count, who had tried to get the fearleading team expelled by framing them for a prank on the senior class? How could SN be friends with a ghoul that had done her best to betray the Monster High SKRM team to the Granite High team no matter what it cost the school? The only answer he could think of was…she couldn't be which meant—"So, this was all a prank?"

Her eyes came up and met his, "What? NO! How could—"

"You and the other werecats, you finally got your revenge on Cleo. After all this time, you finally got your revenge on her and the rest of the fearleading team for not letting you back on after you abandoned it. What are you planning with Frankie? Is that the next step, helping her out to eventually turn them against each other too? Is that what that traitor, Toralei, has planned next?" He burned with anger that he had been so easily tricked that the sweet SN he had wanted so much to meet had never existed.

Purrsephone barred her teeth at him, gold eyes flashing. "I told you this wouldn't go well. I warned you and warned you and you wouldn't listen to me. And as for Toralei being a traitor, all you goody goodies have really short memories. You know that? Toralei and we weren't the only ones that quit the team. The entire team quit because Cleo was so obnoxious. She was bad enough that she only got another team because Frankie pushed for it. Frankie got them together and kept them together when Cleo wouldn't even look at them much less teach them. Not that she can teach. She wouldn't even be captain if Toralei hadn't taught her when she first joined and what did that get Toralei? Nothing but trouble. No thanks, no acknowledgement, nothing but Cleo acting like she's better than everyone else and acting like the team is all her work. And what about your precious SKRM team? You wouldn't have that either if it weren't for Frankie pushing for it and Robecca training you but does anyone ever think about that? Oh no! Everyone just applauded the so called 'Coach' Clawd who wouldn't train the group either until they started getting good on their own. That's a great way to treat a friend, take credit for what they do." By now, she was poking him in the chest with the envelope, snarling into his face. "And now, you! I told you this wasn't a good idea. I told you but you wouldn't listen. You promised that meeting me would go well. That you didn't care who I really was and this happened. So who's the real liar here? Huh?" She stepped away from him, eyes shining with unshed tears. "You promised and I trusted you." Throwing the crushed envelope at him, she spun on her heel and marched away from him before he could fully react to her tirade.

As she passed by the pillars that helped hide the fountain from the rest of the maul, her sister and friend emerged. Moving to either side of her, they slid comforting arms over her back. However, the glares they sent him over their shoulders were deadlier than his own gaze could ever be.


	19. A Different Point Of View

Deuce was trying to concentrate on his Bitology book but it simply wasn't working. He didn't like seeing a ghoul cry, any ghoul, and he had never intentionally caused it like he had today. She had look devastated when he had asked if it was a prank, right before her eyes had flashed and she had torn into him. Had he been wrong? His mind kept playing what she had said and written over and over. It was true, she had warned him and warned him that he would not like her if he met her and he had promised that who she was didn't matter. As much as he hated to admit it, it was also true that Clawd and Cleo had both refused to coach the substitute teams that Frankie had put together until the teams 'proved' themselves.

His mind drifted back to the werecats teaching Frankie. He couldn't remember ever seeing Cleo that patient with any of her fearleaders.

But, still, this was Purrsephone. The werecats had proven to be mean-spirited time and time again, hadn't they? Splashing water on the fearleading team just in time for the fearbook picture. Putting pictures of Gil and Lagoona's hidden relationship in the fearbook in a way guaranteed that Gil's parents would see it. How could a ghoul that had done all that be the same ghoul that had tried to cheer him up and tell him what was wrong when Cleo was angry?

How could SN be Purrsephone?

He slammed his book shut in frustration. He was getting nowhere. Not with Bitology and not with his own thoughts. He needed to talk to someone...but who could he talk to. Not his mom. She was a good mom but he didn't really want to discuss girls with her. Definitely not Heath. Usually, he would talk to Clawd but he didn't think that would help in this case. Draculaura had been one of Purrsephone's victims and there was no way the werewolf would respond well to who SN was. Clawd was a good guy but Deuce already knew what he would say. That left only one friend, probably the only one that could give Deuce an unbiased opinion...Romulus. The werewolf wasn't dating anyone in Cleo's group and none of his pack had suffered at the hands of the werecats. He was the only person that Deuce could think of to ask that would give him an unbiased opinion.

Reaching over, he picked up his phone and dialed up the werewolf to see if they could meet for pizza and a talk. The other manster immediately agreed, happy for any distraction from Bitology for awhile.

Once they were settled in a booth away from everyone else at Deuce's favorite pizza place with drinks and a large pizza either, the werewolf got down to business. "So, what's up? And out of curiosity, why isn't Clawd here too?"

Deuce rubbed the back of his neck. "Clawd's cool but...I need to talk to someone that doesn't know Toralei's group."

"Toralei?"

"The orange tabby werecat that was teaching Frankie."

Romulus tilted his head in curiosity. "Why would Clawd have a problem with them. They seem cute enough."

Deuce settled back. "It gets kind of long and complicated but the problem is this." He proceeded to describe to Romulus why Cleo's group didn't like the werecats and then described the notes he'd been sharing with SN and the realizations he had had that had led him to break up with Cleo.

The werewolf raised an eyebrow. "So...do you blame SN for breaking up you and Cleo?"

"No." Deuce's response was as instantaneous as it was emphatic. It surprised even him and he had to think for a few minutes. Despite what he had said to Purrsephone and even if it had been her intention, he had to honestly say, it wasn't her doing that Deuce and Cleo were broken up. Well, not directly. It had been Deuce's decision. All SN or Purrsephone had done was make him think about things he had avoided thinking about. "No. I don't know if that's what she wanted or not but the break-up is all on me. I made the decision."

"Ok, so why would Clawd be ticked at SN if she didn't mess with Draculaura's friend and what does this have to do with the werecats?"

"I'm about there. Ok, I really wanted to meet SN."

"Why? To ask her out?"

"No, I just wanted to be able to talk to her more easily and that couldn't happen while she was hiding who she was."

Romulus leaned back and looked at him levelly. "But, if all you wanted was to talk to her, why couldn't you give her a couple of weeks. I mean, why did you push for it now? You just met her but you sound like you were wanting to meet her friends and her friend's boyfriend. That sounds like a little more interest than just a friend to me."

Deuce paused. To him, it was so simple but not at the same time. He liked SN but he hadn't been planning on asking her out. He had just wanted to spend time around her, hadn't he? But, he had envisioned hanging out with her and her friends. He had liked the sweetness and kindness in her notes. He had liked how she could organize his thoughts in the way she worded things but still leave the decision to him. He liked how she had been supporting. His fingers drummed nervously on the counter. What had he really wanted today at the fountain? "I...I don't know. I mean I would have been fine with friends but, yeah, I do like SN. She was just so...so sweet and special and..."

"And the opposite of Cleo?" Romulus' voice only held interest without accusation so Deuce didn't take offense.

"Cleo's not as bad as people think. She's got reasons for how she acts. I mean, she doesn't mean to be cruel, she just...her family has her twisted in so many knots, always pushing her to be the best. You think Clawd's sisters are competitive, you haven't seen Cleo and Nefera. Worse, their father practically demands they be in competition. She needs to be able to break free from that mind set but...I'm not sure if she can."

The alpha nodded, "Yeah, it's hard to accept it but you can't change someone's mind for them."

Deuce raised an eyebrow in curiosity, the werewolf sounded like he was speaking from experience.

Romulus shrugged. "I know she's nice and everything and I got nothing against her but I'm still not sure about how good it is for Clawd to be dating a vampire. Still, it's his life and he's not in my pack so I can't do anything about it except be his friend." He waved hand as if waving away the subject. "But back to you. Ok, so you're wanting SN as a friend and possibly more than that." He held up his hand again to stop Deuce's objection. "I said possibly. Calling a girl special is a sign of interest not a promise. Now what does this have to do with the werecats?"

Taking a deep breath, Deuce told him about the disastrous meeting at the maul. "The thing of it is, I don't get how SN and Purrsephone can be the same person. How can she be so sweet and so vicious."

"Did you ask her?"

"What?"

"Did you ask her?" Romulus leaned forward on the table, pinning Deuce with a level gaze. "Did you ask her about why she and the others have pulled the things on Cleo's group that they've pulled?"

"No, of course not."

The werewolf smirked. "There's no of course about it. You said how could a girl be vicious and sweet at the same time but you already know the answer from your ex. What if the werecats have reasons that you don't know about? Cleo's not the only monster with a hard home life you know."

Deuce sighed. "I screwed up, didn't I?"

The werewolf shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you're right and the werecats are just mean. You've been here longer than me and have seen more of them so you've obviously got reasons to think so. I'm just trying to look at all sides of this 'cause you said that's what you needed."

"Yeah, I did and I do. I don't know what to think about her. Before seeing them with Frankie, I can't think of one good thing I've heard about them...though, I don't really remember talking about them to anyone except Cleo and Clawd so...I don't know." Deuce sighed and stared down at his hands.

Romulus shrugged. "Hey, don't let it get you too down. Whether you made a mistake or not, it's not the end of the world."

"Yeah." Still, Deuce had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. What if Romulus was right about Purrsephone?

Unfortunately, he couldn't worry too much more about it tonight. He had a Bitology test and SKRM game to prepare for the next day.


	20. SKRM Match - Granite High vs Monster Hig

Author's note: To all of those who have reviewed, I'm glad you're liking my portrayal of the characters and feel that I'm staing within cartoon continuity. I do really try to remain true to the characters and do go back to review webisodes to try to make sure I'm staying within the history. I am always happy to hear that people think I'm doing a good job and appreciate all the encouragement.

Now, on to what you all really want: The next chapter :D

* * *

Deuce felt his heart pumping and every nerve in his body tight and ready just like always before a big game. This is why he competed on the games. Not the trophies, not the rallies, this feeling of being ready to push himself to the limit against others just as willing to push themselves. Worry about how had done on his Bitology test melted away under his excitement as the Monster High SKRM took the field, excitement and anticipation radiating from all of his teammates. Their excitement was reflected by the cheering crowd of the student body.

He looked over the crowds, not conscious of what he was doing until he found her, Purrsephone, standing with the rest of the fearleading team. She was following the cheer for the Monster High team but Cleo was scowling at them, which was usual, but so were the rest of the team. Deuce didn't understand at first, until he studied her a little more closely. Though the werecats were performing the cheers perfectly, the three of them were wearing purple scarves. Not the purple and black of Monster High but the darker purples of Granite City. Deuce frowned, distracted.

Was this because of yesterday? Was this a dig at him? Had he really hurt her enough to turn against her own school?

Not that the werecats were known for being huge supporters of the school...and not that he had ever really taken anytime to notice her at games before. He couldn't say if this was something usual for them to do or if was special for them today. However, it was a definite slap in the face of Monster High to have three of their fearleaders wearing the other team's colors.

As he watched, Cleo confronted Toralei. He couldn't hear what was being said but he knew it couldn't be nice from the way Cleo's eyes were flashing. Frankie and Draculaura were watching her with worried eyes but the werecats seemed...amused. He watched more closely. He had never seen any ghoul take one of Cleo's scathing attacks before without backing down except for maybe Gory. However, the werecats merely smirked as Toralie looked at her nails. The orange tabby made some comment while watching the Egyptian from under her eyelids and whatever it was...Cleo reared back as if the cat had struck her.

He realized he was staring when Clawd's hand came down on his shoulder. "Hey, Deuce, head in the game. We're about to start and the gargoyles look hungry."

Looking over at the Granite City team, Deuce could see Clawd's comment had been an understatement. He had never seen the gargoyle team so tense and ready to spring. The leader with the mohowk kept his grey glare on the Monster High team even as he gave his team last minute instructions.

Deuce turned away from them to listen to his own captain's instructions.

"Ok, guys and ghouls, we took them before and we can do it again. They may be big and strong but we're no slouches in that department ourselves and we've got agility and speed as well. So, let's remind them why we're the best!"

The team cheered his pep talk but a small part of Deuce's brain was remembering what Purrsephone had said about the previous year's SKRM team, about how there wouldn't be one without Frankie and Robecca. That part pointed out that the reason they were the best was because Frankie had pushed and prodded the ghouls into picking up where the guys flaked out. They were the best because of someone that had never gotten a trophy or award that Deuce knew about.

He shook his head. He couldn't think about that right now. He had to concentrate on what was about to come or he was going to get hurt again.

His concentration didn't help.

The two teams were neck in neck at the beginning, jockeying for position when the Granite City team captain, Rocco, swerved and bodily slammed Deuce full into a wall. The other two gargoyles continued ahead with Operetta speeding up behind them and Gil paused to help Deuce back up.

Rocco grinned, showing all of his fangs. "Sorry, about that, snake boy, rough sport you know."

Turning on his heel, he was off after the others again.

Gil helped Deuce to his feet. "Come on, let's get them."

It was a good plan but it became very obvious that Rocco had it out for Deuce. Every time he got back up to speed, it seemed Rocco was waiting just for him, even dodging out of Gil's way, letting the lake monster get ahead as he slammed his skates into Deuce's catapulting the snake-headed manster into a column.

Clawd had shown up just then to push the gargoyle away from Deuce, "Dude, he's out of it, ok? The substitution's being sent in so back off."

The gargoyle continued to smile cruelly. "Aww, snake boy can't finish? That's too bad, I was really looking forward to going through those last halls with him."

Deuce wanted to tell Clawd to forget it and go up and protect the other skater that was ahead of this problem, worried about who it was that Clawd had been dropped in as substitution for...or had they already reached the area where the teams switched. Still, he knew the werewolf wasn't going to leave him alone with the gargoyle who seemed content to stay right where he was.

"What is your problem? Your team could have fractured Operetta's jaw with that trick your team pulled and this? The guy's down, back off why don't you?"

The gargoyle shrugged. "People get hurt in SKRM. Your ghouls want to run on the track, what do you expect from us? Kid gloves? They can't take it then don't skate as for snake there..." Rocco's lips turned up in a sneer of disgust, "He deserves more...a lot more." The last came out as a growl.

Deuce knew he should understand what was going on. He was missing something really really obvious. Something was really weird to have the two SKRM team captains standing on the track arguing rather than skating. Clawd was somewhat understandable, the werewolf's protective instincts were a well known fact. However, the gargoyle's dedication to winning was also a well known fact so what was the captain doing here...other than holding up Clawd. "So, this is your new plan to win? Stall the players by talking us to death?"

Rocco looked like he wanted to kick Deuce but Clawd was in the way, instead he glared in disgust. "If you can't figure it out then you're even stupider than I was told..." He backed away as if to resume skating but paused and threw over his shoulder, "And a lot more worthless."

Clawd turned to check on Deuce but the gorgon waved him off, "I'll be fine, just go catch him."

The small gargoyles showed up soon after that with the stretcher and Deuce lay back on it hoping the relaxed position would help his head to stop spinning.

Purrsephone flinched as she saw Rocco send Deuce into the hard rock of the maze again and looked over at Toralei and Meowlody. Their smiles told her everything. She frowned and leaned inbetween them, hissing, "You told him!"

Toralei smiled, "Of course, I did."

"Toralei!"

Meowlody tsked, "Oh, calm down, sister, Rocco's not going to kill him."

Their friend nodded, "See, the doggie went in for him so he's being brought off the track now."

Purrsephone looked up and wanted to cry when she saw Deuce lying so still on the stretcher. "I didn't want—I would never have-"

"Of course you wouldn't. I, on the other hand, am not going to let that lying, deceptive, no good, worthless jerk hurt one of my friends and get away with it and neither would Rocco."

"But it's not- I mean-" Purssephone was at a lost of words. This was not their fight and certainly not Rocco's and how could they do that to Deuce and OH! She just wanted to scream.

The buzzer sounded as the Gargoyles crossed the line in victory.

Up above, the monster-tron was showing the highlights. The gargoyles had used their wings to offset the ghoul's speed. Most of the mansters would have been strong enough to push through but the ghouls relied on speed and agility and meeting a large gargoyle's wing in mid-jump had definitely knocked the wind out of them. The gargoyles had also pulled their old tricks of destroying the maze behind them and Abby wasn't on the team this year to make ice bridges. In addition, they'd focused on Operetta, giving her no time to draw a breath to use her voice as she had before when she had attempted to give Lagoona a push to outdistance them and Purrsephone could hear the fearleaders wondering if one of the new gargoyle players was a ghoul because the player had certainly been fast enough to match Lagoona and that wasn't easy.

All in all, it was a close game but Monster High had lost with some team members probably side lined for quite awhile though, oddly, Granite High had ended up not cheating this time.

Purrsephone could hear the fearleaders heading towards the locker room, led by Draculaura eager to check on her boyfriend. Cleo didn't give the werecats a second look, probably still fuming from Toralei's earlier comment. When the Egyptian had demanded they lose the scarves, the werecat had pointed out that just because Cleo didn't have a boyfriend didn't mean that no one did and, unlike some ghouls (making sure that Cleo clearly got the inference of who 'some ghouls' applied to), Toralei liked to support her manster which probably explained why Toralei still had a manster.

Purrsephone had thought the scene very entertaining and very true.

However, at the moment, she didn't need Toralei's urging to go see Rocco. She was already stalking that direction, tail lashing in anger, by the time that her sister and best friend caught up.


	21. Revelations

Deuce was feeling better physically by the time the SKRM bout was over. Emotionally and mentally, though, was another story. He hurt. His team had lost and he felt that part of it was his fault. Maybe if Clawd hadn't had to stop to help him up…but why Had Rocco been so focused on him? What had he ever done to the gargoyle?

Or was it the gargoyle?

His mind slowly focused on a few details. The werecats had been wearing Granite City scarves but he seemed to remember this wasn't the first time they had done it. Hadn't Clawd said something before about using Toralei to give the Granite City team bad info last season? He concentrated. Yeah. Toralei had been dating the captain and had tried to turn Operetta against the Monster High team. But would Toralei have stayed with the gargoyle after his team lost? SN had talked about how nice her friend's boyfriend was and he hadn't heard of Meowlody having a boyfriend…ever. So, could Rocco be the boyfriend that took his ghoulfriend's friends to the movies? The one that 'watched out for his ghoulfriend's friends'? Who had probably heard all about yesterday from a very angry Toralei if Deuce was right about them being together and if the werecat's glares had been any measure of how angry she was over Purrsephone crying?

And what about Purrsephone? Had she put him up to it? Rocco hadn't given him a direct message but he had indicated that he thought Deuce should know why Rocco was focused on him.

Pushing himself up, he waved off help from his team. "I'm fine, I need to go check on something."

Clawd gave him a disbelieving look and obviously meant to follow him.

Deuce shook his head. "No, seriously, dude, I need to go do this myself. I'll text you later, ok?"

The werewolf obviously wasn't happy but finally relented, turning back to check on the rest of the team.

The pain killers had finally fully kicked in and Deuce was able to walk down the halls toward the Granite City locker room. As he approached the final turn, he heard the werecats or to be more specific, Purrsephone yelling Rocco's name and she didn't sound happy. Deciding to scout the situation, he stopped and peeked around the corner.

The gargoyles had already changed out of their uniforms, or at least Rocco had. The large manster was in t-shirt and jeans as the werecats approached, Purrsephone in the lead for the first time that Deuce could remember.

"Rocco! Why did you go after Deuce like that?" Purrsephone's tail was fluffed and her ears were laid back.

The big gargoyle shrugged, "He hurt you, I hurt him."

Purrsephone had already known that would be the answer. Rocco and Toralei shared the same fierce loyalty to friends but she was too angry and upset over the whole situation to think clearly. Deuce had already hated her before as was proven when the meeting had gone so bad just as she had known it would and now Deuce would hate her more. She understood the why and, yes, she was mad at Deuce for not being able to look past her reputation like he had for Cleo and as much as she didn't want to, she still cared for him. Running her hand through her hair, tail lashing back and forth, "It wasn't…He didn't…I didn't—"

Rocco suddenly cut in, raising an eyebrow, "He didn't hurt you? I was told you spent most of last night crying."

"Yes, I did, but—"

"And he's who made you cry, right?"

She hated how logical he was sounding. "Yes, but, it's not…it's not really his fault."

Toralei and Meowlody hissed in disagreement as Rocco moved forward and gently placed his fingers under Purrsephone's chin to make her look up at him. "If you weren't crying before you went to meet him and were crying after you met with him, then whose fault is it?"

Purrsephone sighed, struggling to find the words to make them understand. "I knew it was going to go bad, Rocco, there was no way it couldn't and I tried to tell him that. All he knows is what the school knows, the pranks we've pulled. They're his friends, Rocco, he doesn't see them for the two faced hypocrites they are. He doesn't understand, he couldn't. So…it's not really his fault that he reacted so badly. I should have thought of a better way—"

Toralei cut her off sharply, "No! You did everything you could to warn him. He should have talked to you tried to understand. He certainly did it for his ex enough times even when she'd publicly humiliated him and his friends. If he could do it for that prissy little witch, he could've done it for you and he should have. You don't call someone a friend and turn on them like that."

Meowlody tilted her head. "No, you shouldn't call someone a friend and turn on them like that but what did you expect coming from that group? Not like any of them understand loyalty."

Rocco was quick to add his own support. "He broke his promise to you so I broke him. It's fair."

Purrsephone sighed again. She appreciated their support and how much they cared for her but… "I still didn't want to see him hurt."

Rocco shrugged, "Then don't look next time."

Purrsephone looked at the toes of her boots, miserable. "There won't be a next time. He and I won't talk again."

"I'm hoping that, for once, you're wrong." Startled by the new voice, Purrsephone turned and saw Deuce standing at the corner with a rueful smile. "Hi."


	22. Can We Talk?

Four gazes focused on him and none of them were particularly welcoming. Even Purrsephone looked wary.

Rocco shifted, placing himself between Deuce and the ghouls and growling, "What do you want?"

Deuce didn't look at the gargoyle, concentrating on the dark-haired werecat. "Purrsephone, please, can we talk."

There were immediate grumbles from the other werecat and a softly hissed suggestion of where he could go from the vicinity of Toralei but Deuce ignored it as he waited for Purrsephone's answer.

She looked away from his gaze. "We tried that. It didn't work."

"I know it didn't. You warned me and I didn't listen. You were right. I broke my promise to you and I am really sorry. I don't care where we talk but, please, just give me one more chance. "

Toralei moved forward, leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder and blocking the line of sight between the manster and werecat. "Why should she? You made it really clear you're not going to believe what she says."

Deuce wanted to tell the tabby that it was none of her business but he knew that wouldn't work. The trio was too close and if he really did want to talk to Purrsephone he was going to have deal with the other werecats. "I wasn't thinking. I was surprised and mad because I was surprised. I want a second chance. Just one."

Purrsephone moved around her friend and walked over to him, stopping about a foot away and looking up into his face, studying him. Cleo had always said his face was unreadable because of his glasses covering his eyes so he wasn't sure what she was searching for. He knew what he was searching for. He stared down into her eyes, looking for SN, looking for enough trust for him to find out more about her. He didn't agree or like how the group had described his friends but he had to admit two things: One, Purrsephone had been proven right more than wrong even if she did take a more pessimistic view of things. Two, as Romulus and Toralei had both pointed out, he'd given Cleo the benefit of the doubt that there was more to her than the spoiled princess everyone else usually saw and he had owed Purrsephone the same benefit after promising her that she was his friend.

"One more chance, Purrsephone. That's all I'm asking. Just trust me one more time."

Emotions flowed over her face faster than he could track. "One more time?"

"Just once. You name the place and the time and I'll be there. If I blow it, I'll leave you alone."

Her ears twitched and he could sense everyone holding their breath waiting for her answer the same as he was. She finally nodded. "I'll give it a shot but if you're lying-"

"If he's lying then today was only a taste of what will happen next." Rocco's low voice cut through the moment.

Purrsephone rolled her eyes but Deuce could see the fond smile in her eyes as she looked over her shoulder at the manster. "Rocco!"

"Don't you Rocco me. You're not going anywhere alone with him."

The dark-haired werecat turned fully to confront the gargoyle, no fear in her eyes. "It's just talking, it can't go any worse than it did before."

The manster shook his head. "It's not going to go bad at all 'cause you're not going anywhere alone with him. He can make all the promises he wants but I don't trust him. I want the two of you where I can keep an eye on him."

Toralei was right behind her. "Yeah, he wants to talk to you he can do it where we can make sure he behaves. Just 'cause you're willing to trust him doesn't mean the rest of us are."

Deuce moved to Purrsephone's side and held out his hands in a placating gesture. "I mean what I said. As long as I get to talk to her." He turned fully towards Purrsephone. "I wasn't lying. I don't care where we talk, just as long as we can talk."

Purrsephone looked over at Rocco and Toralei, "So, what's your solution then."

"Why not at the party tonight?" Meowlody interjected. "There'll be back-up for Purrsephone if she needs it and music and Rocco to keep people away from interfering if things go well." She looked up from filing her nails with a smile that only seemed innocent. "What? You two were planning on letting them talk with at least a little privacy, right? Besides, Toralei, there'll be good music so you can dance instead of worrying yourself sick."

Deuce had never seen the werecats like this before. He had always assumed that the sisters always went silently along with everything Toralei wanted because that was all he'd ever seen or heard. He wondered if the sisters arguing with Toralei like this was new or if it was just something they didn't do in front of strangers. Hopefully, he would be able to find out tonight.

Toralei gave a grudging nod to Meowlody and the white-haired werecat shifted her gaze to Rocco. "You can keep the guys under control so they can talk, right?"

The gargoyle growled. "Of course I can."

The werecat nodded as if the gargoyle had agreed and turned towards her sister. "You ok with it?"

Purrsephone looked over at Deuce instead of answering. "Are you ok with it?"

"I'm not gonna blow my second chance by breaking a promise. I said anywhere, anytime you chose. You choose tonight at the party then I'll be there."

Purrsephone nodded and Meowlody smiled wider. "Great. Rocco, give him the address so he can go get cleaned up and meet her there. Meanwhile, can we go already? The DJ will already be setting up his playlist."

Rocco spared the white-haired twin a small smile. "Hey, have I ever failed to get your favorites on the playlist?"

She shrugged, "Always a first time." She dug in her purse and pulled out a pen then grabbed a poster off the wall, handing them both to the gargoyle. "Now, let's go get changed while Rocco gives Deuce the address so we can go."

Toralei nodded her agreement, picking at her fearleader uniform, "I'm not wearing loser colors to a victory party."

Purrsephone paused and looked from Rocco to Deuce. "I'll see you at the party."

Deuce nodded. "I'll be there."

The werecats hurried off to the locker room leaving Deuce and Rocco alone. The gargoyle started writing out the map. "You better not stand her up, snake boy."

Deuce bristled at the insult but did not want to give Rocco an excuse to sabotage the meeting by getting into a fight with him. "I'll be there, dude, as long as you give me the right directions."

"They're right. I said you weren't talking to her without me around and the party's as good a place as any. I'll make sure you two get a private corner to talk in but I still don't trust you."

The gorgon nodded as he took the map and turned towards the locker room to finish getting out of his SKRM gear and clean up. SN had said in the notes that her friend's boyfriend watched out for her and she had definitely been telling the truth. He didn't blame the gargoyle for not trusting him. All the gargoyle really knew about him was that he had hurt Purrsephone when he broke his promise that the meeting would go well.

Deuce didn't know if that would change after tonight but that wasn't his main concern. Tonight, he wanted to find out exactly who the dark-haired werecat really was. Was she sweet, kind and smart like her notes or was she traitorous and mean like her reputation.

Clawd, Romulus, Gil and Rochelle were waiting for him when he got back. He wasn't really surprised. The werecats might not have a high opinion of his friends' loyalty but that didn't mean the ghouls were right.

"Hey, dude, you ok?" Clawd's eyes were filled with concern and didn't seem reassured when Deuce nodded.

Quickly folding the map up, he opened his locker and shoved the map in his vest pocket. "Yeah, dude, I'm good."

"What were you up to?"

Deuce sighed, he really didn't want to talk to Clawd about this, not right now. The werewolf wouldn't want to let Deuce go alone to the gargoyle party and would try to come along which would not make the gargoyles happy and could only end in disaster and another broken promise. However, he didn't want to lie to his friend either. "Bro, I need you to trust me on this. I got something I need to take care of myself. It's fine, I just don't want to talk about it right now."

Clawd's ears drooped and Deuce could see Rochelle and Gil sharing curious looks while Romulus only cocked his head attentively.

Placing a hand on Clawd's shoulder, Deuce tried to reassure him. "It's not a big thing and I'll tell you all about it in a few days, I just need to take care of something tonight, ok?"

His team didn't look convinced. However, what could they really do? Break into his locker where he had locked his jacket while he went into one of the changing rooms and showers to finish getting cleaned up?

Clawd sighed. "Well, you know if you need me..."

Deuce nodded. "I'll call, dude. I know you got my back and I'll tell you about it later. Ok?"

"Ok, we'll be Kong's pizza, you know, if you need anything."

Deuce gathered up his clothes. "Try to have fun, dude, you and Robecca will figure out how we can beat them in the rematch. Go ahead and don't keep them waiting. I'll be fine."

With last shared concerned looks, his team walked out.

Romulus, however, was still there when Deuce came back out and started stowing his SRKM gear in his locker.

"You going to talk to her?" The alpha didn't need to explain which her.

Deuce nodded. "Yeah. Gonna try to find out just who she really is."

"That's a lot to cram into one conversation."

"Yeah, well, I'm hoping to just mainly know which her is the real her."

"And if it's six of one, half dozen of the other?"

Deuce shrugged. "Got to start somewhere." He looked over at the alpha. "I overheard her and her friends. They say I owe her the same chance, same benefit of the doubt I gave Cleo. Cleo's not as bad as people think she is you know."

Romulus nodded, "Yeah, so I've heard. So, they think you owe Purrsephone."

"Yeah...and they're right. I told her she was my friend. I owed her better than to just yell at her."

The werewolf didn't agree or disagree, just shrugged and walked with Deuce out of the arena. "You know I got your back too, right?"

Deuce nodded and waved to the alpha before heading out to the gargoyle's party.


	23. Face to Face II

By the time Deuce arrived at the party, all the parking spaces near the place were taken so he had to walk a couple of blocks and his bruised body was letting him know that it was not happy about the fact by the time the entrance came in sight. Purrsephone was outside, apparently waiting for him. So were Toralei and Rocco, the werecat leaning back against the gargoyle's chest. His arms were wrapped around her waist, holding him back against her as they talked and shared kisses. Meowlody was also there with a gargoyle boy on either side, one apparently holding her soda while the other held a plate she was eating some chips from while she flirted with both of them. Another gargoyle was next to Purrsephone, one hand braced on the wall to the left of her shoulder as he talked to her, smiling down in obvious interest. Deuce frowned in annoyance at the sight but quickly pushed the surprising feeling away. Getting into a fight with any of the people present was not going to get him his talk with Purrsephone.

The werecat noticed him about then and stepped away from the wall and the gargoyle that had been talking to her gave Deuce a deadly glare, obviously resenting the manster's presence.

"You made it." She smiled up at him.

"C'mon, don't sound so surprised." He made sure his tone and smile made it obvious he was teasing and not serious.

She giggled and then turned towards Rocco expectantly. The SKRM captain released his ghoulfriend as they both stepped away from the wall. Taking Toralei's hand, he jerked his head towards the inside. "C'mon, let's get you your place to talk."

Meowlody nodded, eyes dancing with laughter, "Yeah, so I can finally dance." She gave a long suffering sigh and Purrsephone giggled.

The twins were the only two smiling as the group moved inside, Rocco making a path for the others to follow. The two gargoyle that had been talking to Meowlody were flanked Rocco in position that Deuce recognized from the SKRM courts. It left a protected pocket right behind the SKRM captain where the three werecats walked, unworried about anyone in the crowd bumping into them as they followed Rocco and chatted, unfortunately too low for him to hear. The gargoyle that had been talking to Purrsephone walked next to Deuce who eyed him a bit warily. He'd been knocked around by gargoyles enough today to not want a possibly disappointed would be boyfriend to add to the bruises.

Eventually, they arrived at a corner with a couch where Rocco chased off a gargoyle couple and nodded towards it, raising his voice over the music. "You can talk here. I'm gonna be sitting over there where I can keep an eye on you." He smiled reassuringly at Purrsephone. "Don't worry, the music's loud enough no one's gonna be able to eavesdrop unless they sit down next to you." He looked over at Deuce and the reassuring smile became a warning glare. "But, I'll be close enough to see if anything goes wrong."

Toralei laid a hand on Purrsephone's shoulder. "Yeah, and Meowlody and I'll be dancing right over there. You have any problems...we're just a yell away, ok?"

Purrsephone smiled reassuringly at her friend. "It'll be fine. I'm sure."

Meowlody laughed, "Always the little optimist." She grabbed Toralei's arm and tugged, "C'mon, I sent Tim to go tell the DJ to kick it up a bit 'cause I promised him and Dave a dance."

Toralei smiled and let her friend pull her away while Purrsephone sat down on the couch. Deuce sat down near her but not too close as Rocco turned to walk away and one of the gargoyles, presumabley Dave, turned to follow the werecats. That left the gargoyle that had been leaning over Purrsephone and he didn't seem ready to go anywhere.

Purrsephone looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, "Gary, do you mind?"

The big gargoyle shrugged but didn't seem ready to move.

Purrsephone rolled her eyes and yelled at, "Rocco!"

The big SKRM captain immediately turned, his eyes immediately suspicious and angry before turning confused when he saw Deuce wasn't doing anything. Purrsephone pointed at the other gargoyle.

Rocco muttered something that Deuce couldn't hear before stalking over and grabbing his teammate by a wing joint and dragging him off.

Once they were relatively alone, Deuce leaned forward a bit so he could be heard but careful not to crowd her. "Just out of curiosity, have you and Gary dated?"

She shook her head, "No, why?"

"Just curious, he seems really...attached."

Purrsephone giggled. "Yeah, he wants to date but not, never dated him."

Deuce almost asked why not but figured it wasn't his business. Still, the gargoyle having a crush on Purrsephone would definitely explain the way Gary had been acting. It didn't explain why Deuce suddenly had an intense dislike for the gargoyle but he would deal with that later. "So, ummm," Now, that they could talk, Deuce wasn't really sure where to start.

Purrsephone turned more towards him and leaned into the couch. "So, you'd like to know how a mean spirited prankster like me could possibly be nice?"

Deuce flushed a bit. "I wouldn't have phrased it like that but ummm, I am confused. I mean, your notes were so sweet and how you guys helped out Frankie was amazing and I just don't get it how you can do all that and then pull the stunts on Draculaura and Lagoona and the others."

Purrsephone shrugged. "Because they're prissy little stuck up divas and friends with Cleo and Cleo is easiest to hit through her vanity and her friends." Deuce frowned, not liking the description but Purrsephone only shrugged. "Did you really expect me to say that the pranks and everything are just wrong and just mean spirited? We agreed before that honesty was the only way any kind of friendship would work for us. Don't ask questions if you don't really want the answers."

Deuce ran a hand over his scalp, his snake-hawk twisting restlessly. "I do want the answers and I'm sure I'm not going to like them because...those are my friends..." He paused and rethought that. He wasn't friends with any ghouls except for Operetta and even that was under repair so it wasn't really truthful to call Cleo's group his friends. He didn't hang out with them other than when he was with Cleo or with Clawd when the wolf was hanging out with Draculaura. "I mean...well, they're friends of my...well, Clawd is my best friend and they're friends of his ghoulfriend."

"Yeah, so you've never really looked at them the way I do. You've only heard their version."

Deuce turned so he was sitting sideways on the couch, giving her his full attention. "Ok, you're right. So, tell me your version. Please."

"And you'll give me a fair hearing?"

"I'll do my best." She frowned at him and he shrugged at her. "Honesty, remember?"

She smiled a little. "Yeah. Ok, the thing of it is, we never really cared about them before Cleo joined the fearleading team. We never ran into them. Toralei met my sister and I long before any of us were in Monster High. When we got into Monster High, we joined the fearleading team while Nefera was captain. Nefera may be a lot of things including spiteful and vain. But she's a perfectionist and she has a great sense for how things should look and move. It's why our team were Mashional winners before Cleo ever even picked up a pom pom and Toralei was the best of our team. Even Nefera said so and she was picky but even she gave Toralei credit for being a great teacher. Toralei would pick up the new moves and stuff quickly and then would work with the rest of the team to make sure everyone got it. We all thought Toralei would be the next captain, especially when Cleo first joined. Cleo couldn't do any of the flips or cartwheels or anything so Toralei taught her. We all thought that it was a perfect chance to show Nefera that Toralei was ready to be captain next by taking Cleo from knowing almost nothing to being able to perform the cheers perfectly. When Nefera made Cleo captain, it was really a surprise and when Toralei asked her why, she said it was because Toralei had taught Cleo. She had wanted Cleo to fail and Toralei messed it up so she punished Toralei by making Cleo in charge."

Deuce could understand how that would make anyone angry but, "So, why go after Cleo instead of Nefera?"

"We couldn't get at Nefera. She graduated. At the time, we weren't going to go after Cleo 'cause we figured it wasn't her fault but then..." Purrsephone frowned and her voice filled with anger, "That ungrateful prissy stuck up Cleo started acting like she had been born perfect. She NEVER thanked Toralei for any of her help and started treating Toralei like some stupid little servant. She never acknowledged that Toralei taught her and talked down to all of us all the time. She was as bad as Nefera. She never taught the team anything. She would show the routine and then expect everyone to just get it. Toralei was the one that taught it the rest of the team, not Cleo, never Cleo. But did your sainted ex ever give her any credit? Of course not, she just continued to act like queen of the world and tell everyone they needed to do better but she would never lower herself to help anyone improve. No not miss queen of the high school. She would just give us the order to improve and then yell if she didn't feel it had been followed but she would never ever tell anyone they were doing well. The best we ever got from her was, 'well, I guess that will do'. Toralei wasn't the one that came up with the idea for quitting by the way. The rest of the team wanted to quit long before they did but Toralei kept them together until Cleo just played ungrateful queen one too many times and we were all sick of her. Haven't you ever wondered why of the six original members of the fearleading team that quit, none of them have ever tried out for the team again? Not counting us, there's still three Mashional winners in the school that won't try out for the team because queenie killed their enjoyment. They've even told us they don't understand why we joined again."

"So, why did you?"

"Because we enjoy fearleading and, right now, we don't really deal with Cleo much because Frankie runs interference for her. Though, I admit, I'm curious about how long Frankie can keep doing that before she finally realizes she's never going to be thanked for all the work she does to keep teams together. Cleo's never thanked her or given her credit for it you know...and neither has Clawd."

Deuce could see her point but wanted her to understand as much as he was trying to understand. "Clawd doesn't really think like that. He's very group oriented. He sees a group not really individuals."

"And that gives him the right not to thank Frankie or Lagoona for teaching the team how to skate to begin with?"

"No, but, from his point of view, he does that when he congratulates the team because he understands that Lagoona and Frankie's work was matched by the rest of the team willing to listen to them so he gives the whole team credit for good choices."

Purrsephone mulled that over for a few minutes then nodded. "Ok, I can see that. I don't agree but," She shrugged. "It still doesn't excuse Cleo though because you can't tell me that she really thinks of anyone but herself."

"That's not completely fair. She does care about her friends but her family...it's difficult. Her father and sister are always putting her down and she can actually get grounded for apologizing. She's a princess-"

"Not here she's not. She was a princess in Egypt and this isn't Egypt, here she's a has been and so is her father because we're not in Egypt. I am not one of her servants and neither is anyone else in the school so what gives her the right to act like it. She's no better than Gory and her friends when it comes to that and I am so sick of vampires and mummies thinking they're all special because they were nobility in some other stupid country."

Deuce was taken aback by her vehemence and, unfortunately, he couldn't really find a fault with her argument. It was true, Cleo's father had been a ruler in Egypt not here. He didn't have the power to have anyone arrested or collect taxes. Their family just had a lot of money. "Ok, you're right, they're not in power but, she was a princess and she was raised to be a princess. They put a lot of pressure on her."

"Fine, she has a lot of pressure on her but that doesn't mean we're going to act like doormats for her. She can play ruler with her friends all she wants but I'm not her servant and I'm not going to put up with her treating me like I am. I deserve respect and I'm not going to give it where I don't get it."

Deuce rubbed his forehead. "You're right. I'm just saying...there's a reason why she acts like she does..." He looked into Purrsephone's eyes and was forced to admit, "And I'm beginning to start seeing there's a reason for you...So, you went after her because of how she treated the fearleading team?"

"Yeah, like I said, the best way to go after her is through her friends...especially when her friends act like what she's doing is right. Not one of them has ever called her on how she treats people. They back her up on it. I mean everyone has seen how she treats Ghoulia. It's no secret how she grabs stuff out of Ghoulia's hands and orders her around and not one of Ghoulia's so called friends has called her on it. If Toralei or Meowlody ever tried that on me you better believe the other one would immediately call her out, not just roll her eyes and go, 'well, that's the way she is'. So, yeah, we mess with them because they deserve to know not everyone sees them as the sainted little angels they pretend to be. They turn on each other all the time and treat each other as badly as we've ever treated them."

"Maybe not as badly," Deuce held up a hand to stop her protest. "But, ok, I get your point. Your pranks are mainly to punish them."

"Yeah, which is why we went after Lagoona and Gil. If they hadn't been trying to hide it and lying to everyone, we'd have had no prank, would we?"

"Ok, that one, I really don't think was right. Gil's parents are prejudiced. You caused a lot of problems doing that and that was really just cruel."

Purrsephone opened her mouth to protest but then dropped her eyes. "I admit, we've gone too far a few times. But all of this is why I knew you didn't want to meet me because those were monsters you cared about and you don't see their faults...monsters who care about each other overlook faults...like Toralie and Meowlody and I do." She looked up and caught Deuce's confused look. "I'm honest enough to admit we're not perfect and that some of our pranks were because it was fun to stir people up. But we never tried to do anything permanent to anyone we didn't think deserved it."

They sat silently for several minutes while Deuce thought about everything. He could see her points. He didn't agree with all of them but he was starting to see how she wasn't any worse than most monsters he knew. What she had said about Cleo and Cleo's friends was true in a lot of ways though not charitable and not giving any sympathy. Still, he wondered how much sympathy had been given the werecats. Romulus had made a comment about mummies not being the only ones with a bad home life and he wondered about that, wondered about what hers might be like and maybe even what the werewolf had seen that would make him say something like that with so much authority.


	24. Changing Attitudes

Deuce and Purrsephone continued to talk and he found himself telling her about his mother. She was a good mom and nice but there were times he really wish he could talk to a father. There were just some things he couldn't talk to her about that he would have been able to talk to a manster about. Problem was, he didn't know who his father was. His mother wouldn't discuss it and his father never attempted any contact that he could tell. Purrsephone told him a bit more about her family as well. Both of her parents were still around...sort of. They both worked but neither one had good jobs. Between work and taking care of the house and paying bills and some younger siblings there was little time or money for the twins. Purrsephone and her sister could stay out all night on the flimsiest excuses and sometimes without them even noticing at all. The only time she got in trouble was if her and her sister woke up anyone when they came in. She didn't say anything about Toralei's family other than the three had met when they had all gotten in trouble when they were younger and stupider. That was the other thing, she knew better than to get into any trouble because her parents were not going to bail her out, literally.

He felt he understood her better now and it no longer seemed odd that SN and Purrsephone were the same ghoul.

They were just heading into happier discussions on music and were debating the merits of The Grave, Nightgenie and a few Normie bands when her sister and Toralei interrupted.

"Sister, you think you can take a break. Rocco wants to see our new routine."

Purrsephone smiled up at her sister, "I thought Toralei was going to make him wait until after prom."

Toralei shrugged. "I was but he's convinced me."

Meowlody and Purrsephone shared a knowing look and the dark-haired werecat asked, "Kisses or...something else?"

"Hmmm, from what I saw when he pulled her onto his lap was that he kissed her senseless and then asked her before air and blood returned to her brain."

Toralei hissed in annoyance but Deuce could tell she didn't really meant it. There was a suppressed giggle at the end of it. "Well, anyway, if you can tear yourself away from him, Rocco's got it set up for the next tune. The DJ will start it as soon as we give him the signal."

Purrsephone looked over at Deuce, "Wanna watch?"

Deuce smiled, "Yeah, I do. I've been curious." He meant it too. It was something he had looked forward to since she had mentioned it in her notes.

Purrsephone laughed and let the other werecats pull her to her feet.

Meowlody smiled down at him. "Don't worry, we'll bring her back...eventually."

Deuce wasn't worried because he had already decided he was going to make sure of it and was just standing up when Rocco flopped down on the couch.

"Might as well sit down if you wanna watch, snake-boy. This's gonna be the best seat in the house."

Bristling but willing to believe Rocco would make sure he had the best seat to watch his ghoulfriend, Deuce sat back down.

A space cleared out around the werecats and Toralei gave a signal apparently to the DJ because music flooded the area again.

When you look at me Tell me what do you see? This is what you get  
It's the way I am When I look at you I wanna be I wanna be Somewhere close to Heaven With neanderthal man Don't go I know you wanna touch me Here there and everywhere Sparks fly when we are together You can't deny the facts of life

Deuce soon forgot all about the people around him as he watched Purrsephone move to the music, hips swaying, body moving to the beat. During the chorus, twice, the music paused as the werecats blew kisses, Toralei towards Rocco, Meowlody to different parts of the crowd and Purrsephone towards him. He didn't understand the brief thrill of happiness that ran up his spine to be singled out but that didn't matter right now. He was appreciating how the three of them moved together, adding gymnastics in seamlessly with the moves, bodies twisting and turning in time with the beat and each other.

He remembered the notes had said Toralei's boyfriend liked to watch them dance and he could see why. He couldn't help appreciating the way her hips swayed and tail coiled and uncoiled or how her body arched and coiled. He knew the werecats were talented from the cheers but this was something else and he didn't think he'd ever noticed how beautiful she was before now as her dark hair swirled around her and her gold eyes glowed with obvious pleasure as they danced.

Deuce completely forgot the party and everyone around them, unconsciously leaning forward.

Suddenly the song ended and the applause broke Deuce's trance. He glanced over to see Rocco smirking at him.

"Good, ain't they?"

"Yeah, really good."

The gargoyle nodded. "My Toralei's got a lot of talent. I keep telling her to do somethin' with it but she's stubborn." Turning toward a gargoyle nearby, he yelled out, "Gary, go get the DJ to bring up another of theirs." He looked back over at Deuce. "By this time, they've usually been dancing the whole time and have done two or three routines and they can't dance all night like usual. Got school tomorrow so gonna have to call it soon and get them home."

Deuce wasn't sure if the gargoyle expected him to apologize or not even though Deuce didn't think he was at fault. Rocco had insisted they talk at the party.

"Let me tell you somethin'. I don't understand about this notes thing. Purrsephone keeps tellin' me you got your reasons for bein' mad at her but it's hard for me to believe after what I heard last night."

Deuce saw the honest concern in the gargoyle's eyes. "I'm sorry I made her cry. I admit I didn't handle it right and I'm doing my best to do it right this time.'

"I'm startin' t'believe it."

Music was starting again and Deuce wanted to watch Purrsephone but he sensed it was important to finish this conversation first. It was clear that if he was going to be friends or anything with Purrsephone, he was going to be dealing with Rocco.

The gargoyle stared at him, measuring, "I'm not sorry for bouncing you around the track but you've handled tonight well. So, I'll let you in on a secret. Werecats are loyal, loving, stubborn, annoying and everything in between. But they're worth the effort."

Deuce didn't know what to say to that and didn't seem to need to say anything because Rocco turned his attention back to watching his ghoulfriend. Deuce did the same with Purrsephone and, once again, became entranced.

* * *

As usual, comments, thoughts, reviews of all kinds are welcome.

Next part should be fun. Deuce may be ready to admit there's more than one side to the werecats but his friends probably aren't going to see it the same way he is. :D


	25. What Captains Are For

Thanks again to everyone that's reviewed. I'm glad that you are all enjoying it and feeling that I'm staying true to the Monster High Universe that we all love so well. I'm trying very hard to do justice to them.

Now on to what you really want :D

* * *

Purrsephone wasn't really sure what to expect the next morning at school. Neither was Deuce. However, he wasn't really surprised to find Clawd and Romulus waiting for him at the door. He knew he had worried Clawd the night before and Romulus would definitely want to know how the previous night went. After greeting them, he jerked his head to the side. "Want to go over to those trees to talk?"

Clawd almost objected but then looked at the growing number of students at the entrance and nodded.

Once they were away from everyone else, Clawd turned around and demanded, "Ok, what's going on?" It was obvious the werewolf had reached the end of his patience and Deuce couldn't blame him. The previous night had been all on trust and, now, Clawd wanted answers.

Deuce took a deep breath as he tried to figure out how to explain everything that had happened this week to Clawd. The only thing he could come up with, though, was the truth. "Ok, dude, you know that ghoul that was writing me?"

Clawd nodded.

"Well, I got her to meet me Monday." Deuce paused, hesitant to go into the next part.

"So...you're dating her and just don't want Cleo to know?"

Deuce shook his head, unable to suppress a smile. Purrsephone hadn't wanted to upset Cleo while the Egyptian was dating Deuce but he knew none of the werecats were afraid of her. "No, but I didn't react real well." He rubbed the back of his neck as Clawd stared at him in confusion. Deuce sighed. No wonder Purrsephone had been so hesitant to tell him who she was. This was definitely not easy. "It was Purrsephone."

Clawd was obviously startled and his thinking ran immediately down the same paths Deuce's had. "So, it WAS a trick!"

Deuce immediately shook his head and Romulus laid a paw on Clawd's shoulder, restraint and comfort at the same time. "Bro, calm down and let him explain."

"Explain?" Clawd turned on Romulus. "You don't know what all those cats have done! They don't do nice so whatever reason she sent those notes-"

Deuce cut in angrily, "Dude, they do nice just fine. It's you that doesn't understand."

Clawd turned back towards Deuce, confusion and betrayal warring in his eyes, "You KNOW what they've done to Draculaura-"

"Yeah, I do, which is why I yelled at Purrsephone Monday, the exact same things you're yelling now. But, dude, there's more than one side to the story, ok?"

Romulus moved in between them and laid his paw on Clawd's shoulder again. "Listen to him. Remember, things aren't always what they seem." Clawd glared sullenly at his old friend. "Remember, the pack almost brought down the school 'cause we wouldn't talk to the vamps. We just said, 'they're bad, always been bad, always will be so of course they took Howleen'. But, hey, vamps can't be all bad like we always heard, can they? 'Cause Draculaura's a vamp and she's a sweet ghoul."

Clawd processed what Romulus was, swayed by the reasonableness of his friend's argument but he continued to frown as he demanded. "Yeah, Draculaura is sweet. So, why are you defending the ghouls that have been making things so hard on her?" His eyes sparked with another idea. "And does this have anything to do with what happened on the track?"

Deuce nodded and sighed deeply, "Look, dude, try to just let me explain. I found out the ghoul writing the notes was Purrsephone and I yelled at her, said pretty much the same stuff you did."

"And what excuse did she give?"

"None. She yelled right back at me. Pointed out some mistakes that've been made on the other side and pointed out that I had promised she was my friend no matter who she turned out to be. She didn't pull any punches and she left me confused because what she yelled back at me was true."

Clawd tilted his head, curious, "What did she say?"

"That I'd lied to her and that maybe the other ghouls and we weren't in the right as much as we thought. Then she took off and I was confused...so I talked it out with Romulus-"

Clawd's head shot up, "Not me?"

"Dude," Deuce held his hands up placatingly, "No offense but I knew what you would say...the same thing I said and the same thing you just said. I needed someone that would say something different to see if what she said might be right...and...ummm, getting ahead of myself, anyway, after Rocco sent me off the track, I put a few things together and figured it had to be because of Purrsephone."

Clawd growled softly. "She put him up to it?"

"No. I went looking for her to ask and ended up overhearing her yelling at him, telling him he shouldn't have done it. His ghoulfriend put him up to it...well, I don't know if put him up to it is the right way of saying it, but Toralei openly admitted she had called Rocco and told him I hurt Purrsephone."

"The twins don't yell," Clawd's eyebrows were drawn in confusion, "They don't even speak."

Deuce laughed softly, seeing his own prior assumptions in his friend's words. "Yeah, they do when they want to. They just don't seem to do it around people they don't like."

"So, what did you do after you heard them admit it?"

"I walked out and asked Purrsephone if we could talk."

"You walked out...are you crazy?!" Clawd was loud enough that several monsters on the steps turned towards their group and both Romulus and Deuce had to remind him to calm down so they didn't bring a whole audience.

"Dude, it was ok. Rocco only did what you or me would probably have done if we heard about some manster hurting Ghoulia or Frankie from a very upset ghoulfriend. I mean, c'mon, what would you do if Draculaura told you one of the gargoyles had broken Frankie's heart?"

Clawd growled low and looked away, a grudging agreement even if he wouldn't admit it.

"So, anyway, it got arranged for me to talk to her at Rocco's party." Both werewolves looked at him like he was insane and Deuce shrugged, "I had promised her I'd talk to here wherever and whenever she said. It was either at the party or I broke a second promise. Besides, I owed her. I screwed up Monday. But it was fine, she and I talked and..."

"And," Clawd prompted.

"And they aren't innocent of any wrong doing, but they didn't really start this whole thing either."

Clawd growled angrily, "Are you saying Draculaura-"

Deuce quickly shook his head. "No, she didn't start anything. Nefera started it, Cleo continued it, the werecats reacted and it's escalated ever since." Deuce rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to get Clawd to understand. "Draculaura became a target because she was close to Cleo who is the main one they're mad at...and, then, when Cleo's friends never called her on the stuff she pulled and just put up with her attitude, that made them even more of targets too."

Clawd cocked his head, "What do you mean they're mad Draculaura never called Cleo out on her attitude?"

"Purrsephone pointed out how badly Cleo treats her friends and all the other ghouls let her. The werecats don't understand how they can call themselves each other's friends and pull some of the stunts they've pulled on each other." He shook his head. "I'm not saying the werecats are right to pull the stunts they've pulled but...if you think about it, Purrsephone has a point. And they can be really nice, you know. They did help out Frankie...and they did help stop Nefera at Mashionals...and they have a point that Cleo's friends aren't helping her anymore than I was when they don't call her on the things she does." He looked over at Clawd. "Look, I'm not asking you to like her. I don't blame you for being mad at her for the things she's pulled on your ghoul but...she's my friend now."

Clawd prowled back and forth for several moments, thinking, obviously torn between his anger over how his ghoulfriend had been treated and his loyalty and trust in his friend's judgment. Eventually, he stopped and glared at Deuce, "Fine, maybe she had reasons against Cleo but not against Draculaura, so, if she is your friend, tell her to leave my ghoulfriend alone!"

Deuce nodded. "That's fair, dude."

Romulus smirked and put his arms over their shoulders, "Now, that that's settled, can we go in before we completely miss the cute ghouls in the short skirts bouncing around?"

Deuce couldn't help laughing at Romulus' comments as they headed toward the gym. He, also, couldn't help remembering exactly how nice Purrsephone bounced and moved when the music had played last night. He didn't even notice when he sped up and completely missed the glance the werewolves shared, one worried, the other smirking again.

Inside the gym, practice had not been going well.

Once everyone had finished stretching and warming up and Frankie had taken extra time to check and tape her stitches with Ghoulia's help, Cleo had shown them a new routine. She ran through it a few times and, by the third time, the werecats had gotten it down and the other ghouls had grasped it but were struggling with some parts of it, as usual. Toralei rolled her eyes as Cleo berated the werecats for not putting enough energy into the moves.

"You are Monster High fearleaders, you should be honored to support Monster High on my Mashional winning fearleading team." She tapped her foot and appealed to the heavens, "Though why am I even wasting breath on you? Wearing those scarves last night? What do you plan for our game against the zombies next week?"

Toralei shrugged, "To cheer for Monster High. None of us are dating the zombies."

"Oh, my Ra-" Cleo cut off in mid-rant as the door opened and Deuce, Clawd and Romulus walked in. Purrsephone noticed the look of pain that crossed the ghoul's features at seeing the gorgon before a cold mask settled into place. Turning back, she looked over at Toralei, "Well, at least you have the moves right. You teach the others while I go deal with something."

The werecat tilted her head to the side, inquiringly. "Why?"

Cleo had been about to walk off but immediately turned at Toralei's question. "I have instructed you to. You helped Frankie improve and now you can make yourself useful and do the same for the rest of the team."

Toralei sneered. "Isn't it the captain's job to teach the team how to improve?"

Frankie and Draculaura interposed themselves quickly before Cleo could respond. Frankie smiled at the werecats. "But you're such a great teacher!"

The vampiress nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Frankie is totes better now and I know you could do the same for me."

Toralei smiled. "Yeah. I could." Her tail suddenly lashed back and forth. "But, I won't. If princess 'captain' doesn't want to do her job then why should I do it for her?"

Draculaura's face fell, "But...but you did it for Frankie."

Frankie stared at them in confusion. "Yeah, you did it for me. Why won't you help Draculaura?"

Toralei shrugged, "Why should we?" Turning on her heel, she jerked her head toward the locker room. "C'mon, let's go."

The werecats immediately turned and sauntered off towards the locker room, completely ignoring Cleo's scream for them to return.

Clawd turned a glare on Deuce but before he could say anything he was drowned out by an enraged mummy striding toward the mansters, "You!"


	26. What did you expect?

Deuce was feeling very outnumbered. Cleo was facing him, hands on hips, extremely angry. Frankie and Clawd were both comforting Draculaura from Toralei's harsh words, the werewolf giving Deuce a look over her head that promised he would have words for the gorgon very soon.

Eyes flashing, Cleo commanded attention. "What are you doing here?" Her tone showed clearly that, in her opinion, he had no reason to be in the school much less the gym.

Deuce decided to go with the obvious. "We came here to watch the fearleading practice."

She crossed her arms and sneered at him. "Longing for what you can no longer have, no doubt."

Deuce rubbed his hand over his scalp, his snake-hawk hissing in agitation. She was so beautiful but so wrong. However, he saw no reason to embarrass her in public.

Romulus stepped in quickly, though, with the truth. "We just showed up to watch the routines. No big deal."

Cleo raised her eyebrow in her patented 'likely story' stare but did not waste any more time on it though she did give Deuce a suspicious glance as she turned back to her friends. Draculaura was leaning into Clawd's hug as Frankie stared at her in concern. Cleo frowned, "Cheer up, Draculaura. Don't let the cat get to you."

Clawd nodded and stroked his ghoulfriend's hair. "Yeah, you know how mean Toralei always is, don't let it bother you. I mean, you don't need her, you're already great."

Frankie nodded encouragement but there was some hesitation in her eyes. Still, she was obviously focusing on the positive, as she patted Draculaura's arm, "Besides, maybe she'll change her mind."

Cleo rolled her eyes, "That cat? Ha! That cat-"

"Why should she?" Deuce cut right across Cleo's comment, tone accusing. Anger burned through his veins at their attitudes. The ghouls and mansters stared at him in shock at his tone and a small part of his brain reminded him he would have been agreeing with them even just the previous week but after talking to Purrsephone and seeing the cats in other lights, he just couldn't let them be ripped apart like this. Purrsephone had defended him against her friends, had been honest with them even when she had every reason to throw him under the hearse. How could he do less? Therefore, he hurried on to explain. "Think about it. She's not your friend, so why did you think she'd do a favor for you? More importantly, why should she?" They stared at him in confusion and he felt the muscles in his neck tense in frustration. "C'mon, if Toralei had walked up to one of you and asked you for help in Bitology or in picking out an outfit or anything like that, would you have helped her?"

Draculaura frowned, "Well...no but she's totes mean. You help her, you only get scratched back."

"How do you know that? Has anyone here actually tried to help her? Help any of the werecats? They're not your friends so why should they help you just because you want them to? Draculaura, you're a sweet ghoul but that's not a real reason to expect someone to help you for no reason. You didn't offer them anything. You wanted them to help you without offering them anything in return so, honestly, why shouldn't they say no? I mean, you could have offered to pay them or take them shopping or even owe them a favor."

Draculaura looked away and Clawd frowned but didn't speak up in disagreement. Cleo, however, did disagree. "I know you're taking their side to hurt me, but, really, Deuce, couldn't you have picked a better argument. They helped Frankie without her doing anything for them and they are part of the fearleading team. I should throw them off the team for disobeying me."

Deuce could not keep the annoyance out of his tone as he turned toward her. "First of all, Frankie did help them. She made sure Granite High didn't lose its school crest which helped out that school. Torale's boyfriend goes to Granite High so, basically, Frankie helped out Toralei's boyfriend so she helped out her. Second of all, they're right whether you want to admit it or not. You're the captain of the team so you should be teaching the ghouls how to improve. Captains teach and train the team. It's what they're for. If you can't handle the responsibilities then maybe you don't deserve the title." He had probably gone too far, but he was angry. He had been getting through to Draculaura, he knew he had and he had been on the edge of being able to arrange for her to get the same help Frankie had gotten. He wanted peace between his friends but Cleo had just had to make it about her...again. He waited for the explosion but Cleo just jerked her head toward the lockers and stalked off. Frankie, Draculaura and Ghoulia followed more slowly, looking back a few times with confused expressions.

Clawd moved in closer, teeth clenched. "Bro, I know you're friends or whatever with the werecats now but you can not believe Draculaura deserved that."

Deuce held his ground, "Toralei didn't deserve them ripping her apart like that either."

Clawd responded with a snarl, "You know what those furballs have done!"

"Yeah, I do and I also know that's not all there is to them. On top of that, Clawd, I know what Cleo did to Toralei, what Cleo did to Clawdeen and Clawdeen did to Draculaura and even what Draculaura did to you! Or have you forgotten a certain Valentine's day?"

"She was under a spell!"

"Not when you built her those stairs, she wasn't."

Pain flashed through the werewolf's eyes at the memory, "She didn't mean...It was a...a misunderstanding."

Deuce lowered his eyes, shoulders slumping. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just...Look, no one's perfect but, you know, with the monster you care about, you can see their side." He looked back up at his friend, tone pleading for understanding. "We both know there's more than one side to every monster."

Clawd's shoulders slumped as well. "You've seen the other side."

Deuce nodded. "I told you, Clawd, she's my friend now. I can't let her and her friends get shredded like that, not when I don't think they really did anything wrong."

"Nothing wrong? They upset Draculaura!"

"Who was only upset because she assumed they should do what she wanted and they didn't. Think about it, Clawd, she didn't really ask them and she didn't offer them anything in return. If that conversation had been reversed, you'd be the first one to say that Draculaura doesn't owe them the time of day and you'd be right, she doesn't owe Toralei anything...but it's true the other way too. Toralei doesn't owe them anything and the main person who should be blamed for the situation is Cleo because she is the captain and she should have already been helping Frankie and Draculaura improve just like you help the SKRM and casketball team. You don't just tell us we suck and to get better. You show us how. As much as the ghouls won't admit it, Toralei was right in what she said."

Clawd began to pace, growling softly to himself. However, after several moments, he stopped in front of Deuce, eyes tired but calm. "You think maybe you can ask Purrsephone for a favor and get Draculaura some of the same help Frankie got?"

"I'll talk to her about it."

Clawd smiled ruefully. "You know this was a lot easier before you made friends with the ghouls that my ghoulfriend doesn't like."

Deuce shrugged and returned the smile. "Yeah, I know...but what do you keep barking in practice? Anything worthwhile is never easy."

Clawd flung his arms out, looking up at the roof in appeal, "NOW he listens to me!"

The mansters shared a laugh and then parted ways, Clawd to wait for Draculaura, Deuce to go look for Purrsephone and Romulus, oddly, tagging along with Deuce.


	27. No Apology, Truce?

Deuce didn't have to look far. The three werecats were gathered around the bottom of the staircase just down the hall from the gym. They all looked toward him when as he walked up, Purrsephone was happy and nervous to see him and his werewolf friend heading towards the three werecats. She wasn't sorry about Toralei turning down Draculaura but the vampiress was dating Deuce's best friend. She wasn't sure how he was going to view it. Meowlody wasn't concerned one way or the other about it. Toralei was pretty sure that Deuce was going to try to get them to apologize to Draculaura. Even if he was honest about considering Purrsephone a friend, Clawd was still his friend too and the werewolf wasn't going to let what had happened pass without comment.

Toralei had already apologized and warned Purrsephone that she wasn't going to change and start being nice to Cleo's group of friends just because Purrsephone wanted Deuce around. Purrsephone understood that and reassured her friend that she had no intention of asking Toralei to do anything like that. Draculaura had no reason to just assume that Toralei should teach her. If the vampiress wanted to learn so badly, she could remind Cleo it was her job instead of letting the mummy walk all over her.

So, as the gorgon walked up to them, Purrsephone nervously searched his face and body language to try to gauge mood. He didn't seem as relaxed as usual but his voice wasn't mad as he stopped in front of her with a low, "Hey."

She smiled up at him, trying to hide her nervousness and act like everything was normal even though everything wasn't normal. Deuce talking to the werecats in school? No secret friendship then. "Hey, how was your morning?"

Deuce shrugged, "Lots of talking."

Toralei moved forward and leaned an elbow on Purrsephone's shoulder, her voice defensive, ears back, "We're not apologizing so don't bother asking."

Purrsephone frowned at her friend's tone.

However, Deuce only chuckled. "I figured you wouldn't but I wasn't going to ask you to anyway."

Purrsephone heard her own emotion reflected in Toralei's murr in surprise and, out of the corner of her eye, noticed Meowlody straighten away from the banister. She stared up at his face to be sure he was serious even as she felt her heart warm hopefully. Did this mean he really was seeing things her way?

Deuce shrugged in amusement. "Hey, you're not her friend so why should you have done anything different or apologize, which is what I told them too."

Purrsephone felt a shiver of nervousness flow down her spine. Had she just caused him to lose friend? "Uh, what else did you say? I mean did they take it ok?"

Deuce's hand raised momentarily but then stopped and dropped back to his side, almost as if he had been about to touch her but changed his mind. She wasn't sure what to think of the aborted gesture but she concentrated on his face as he talked. "They weren't happy but you and them aren't friends so I don't see why anyone thought it would go differently." He looked over at Toralei. "I wish you would have been nicer about how you said no to her, I mean she's nice and she's my friend's ghoulfriend, but, honestly, you have about as much reason to do her a favor as she has to do you a favor...none. I, also, told them you were right about Cleo is supposed to be teaching the team not you as long as she's captain so that is something they need to be dealing with." His hand came up and rubbed his scaled scalp. "I, also, told them I'd ask you if there was any way you'd teach Draculaura."

Toralei sneered. "Why even ask? You know I won't. You even just said that I don't owe her a thing."

"Yeah, you don't owe her anything which is why she had no business expecting a favor like that...but what if she paid you?"

The werecats exchanged glances and Purrsephone could see Toralei's tail twitching angrily as her glare moved between Purrsephone and Deuce, obviously suspicious of what Purrsephone might have told Deuce. One thing all three of the werecats hated was to be pitied. "Pay? Like what? A charity?"

Deuce was obviously taken aback by the strength of the werecat's anger and held up his hands placatingly. "Who's talking about charity? I figured maybe you'd be willing to tutor her in fearleading if she paid you. I mean, why not? Dance teachers get paid, math tutors get paid...why shouldn't a fearleading tutor get paid? You've got the skill and knowledge so, I figure you deserve to be get something for teaching. I mean, if you were captain then it'd be just part of your job but, like you pointed out, you're not captain so you'd be a tutor and, like I said, tutor's get paid, right?"

The tension flowed out of Toralei's body as suddenly as it had filled it and she looked over at Purrsephone with a wry grin. "Ok, ok, I'm starting to get it."

Purrsephone giggled. Deuce was looking at them in confusion but Purrsephone understood. In her own way, Toralei was letting Purrsephone know that she was beginning to approve of Deuce and seeing what it was that Purrsephone liked about the manster.

Meowlody pushed her hair over a shoulder, "I still have a question though, who's the friend?"

Deuce looked over at Romulus obviously embarrassed at just realizing he hadn't done introductions, making Purrsephone giggle again, "Oh, dude, sorry. Ghouls, this is Romulus, friend of mine. Rom, this is Purrsephone, her twin, Meowlody, and their friend Toralei."

The werewolf greeted them in a low voice with just a touch of a growl. Purrsephone took a few moments to appreciate the view. He was a good looking manster with broad shoulders and a grin with a hint of playfulness. She glanced over and saw her sister noticing the werewolf's looks as well before the werecats shared a knowing look. Yep, the manster was definitely easy on the eyes and, if he was a friend of Deuce's, probably not all bad. Though, in Purrsephone's eyes, the werewolf came in second when it came to attractiveness. Nobody beat out Deuce in looks and appeal, though Toralei would argue that since, to the orange tabby, nobody beat Rocco in any department. Still, they could all still appreciate the scenery especially when it had a great eyes like Romulus'.

About that time, the bell rang letting the monsters know they needed to head to class.

The werewolf frowned. "Well, sorry to cut it short but need to go round up the pack and make sure they get where they're supposed to be." He gave the werecats another devastating grin as he waved, "Hopefully catch up to all of you again soon."

Meowlody purred softly, "You can hope, doggie, or you can try..." Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she started off down the hall, tail swishing playfully, with Toralei, smirking at her side.

Purrsephone immediately followed and was pleased to find Deuce walking beside her. The gorgon smiled down at her. "Same first class so I'll walk with you if you don't mind."

Mind? To Purrsephone, the only thing better was if she could slip her arm through his and lean against him. Still, she contented herself with talking about bands, continuing their conversation from the previous night and playfully arguing about which songs from each were the best.

Deuce enjoyed how easy it was to talk to the werecat, even with her friend and sister present. Better still, by the time they reached the classroom door, Meowlody and Toralei had joined in the conversation. He didn't even notice he had sat down next to them instead of his usual place near the front with Clawd and Heath until after class had started. It was funny but it was just like he had hoped it would be when he had thought about hanging out with SN and her friends in the notes. Fun. It still surprised him on a certain level but he was happy about it too. After all, he knew that being friends with Purrsephone meant getting along with her friend and sister. If he couldn't make peace with the other two werecats then he knew, eventually, Purrsephone would have to choose and would choose them. Still, it was nice that getting along with them wasn't that hard...so far.

He knew they were still the mischievous pranksters who had pulled several mean-spirited stunts but that wasn't all they were.

Once class started though, he no longer had the fun of the conversation to distract him from earlier. When he had introduced Romulus to the werecats, he had noticed Purrsephone looking the werewolf over with approval. That wasn't surprising. Romulus wasn't a bad looking manster. The werewolf had never complained of difficulty finding a date. What had surprised Deuce, though, was the sudden jealousy that had filled him at the thought of Purrsephone possibly dating Romulus. It had almost been as strong as the desire to stroke Purrsephone's arm earlier when she had looked nervous.

He flashed back to Romulus' words that maybe Deuce was wanting more than just friendship from the ghoul he had discovered through notes. Could the werewolf be right? Deuce didn't know. He didn't even know if their friendship could survive considering today had shown how much bad blood there was between Deuce's old friends and his new friends and made Deuce wonder how to bridge the gap when neither side was interested in building that bridge.


	28. Mysterious She Conversations?

It wasn't until lunch that Deuce's friends were able to catch up to him. He had seen them in class and between classes but had been to busy to really talk about what Clawd obviously wanted to talk about. As soon as Deuce grabbed his lunch, the werewolf was waving him over. Part of Deuce wanted to ignore the other manster and look for Purrsephone but he knew that wasn't the best idea, not if he wanted to keep his old friends while making new friends. Ignoring either set was a recipe for disaster not the fun that Deuce wanted. Still, as he walked over to his usual table with his friends, he couldn't help looking around the cafeteria, trying to spot a black-haired werecat.

She was over in a corner near the windows with her sister and best friend, of course...and Romulus? Deuce frowned as he noticed the alpha werewolf smiling down at the three werecats, obviously asking if he could sit down. The three ghouls shared one of their 'looks', the ones that seemed to be saying more than you could guess, and nodded.

Deuce tried to ignore the surge of jealousy as his friend slid onto the bench next to Toralei, right across from Purrsephone. He, apparently wasn't entirely successful.

Clawd sighed and poked at his food, "She said no, huh?"

Deuce looked over at him, "Huh?"

"Toralei. She said obviously said no and wasn't nice about it. I'm sorry. I know you wanted-"

Deuce cut him off in surprise, "Bro, she didn't say no."

Clawd looked up, eyes widening. "What?" He grinned. "So she said yes?" Deuce tried to interrupt but Clawd was already talking "That's great. Draculaura will be so happy but..." The werewolf tilted his head in curiosity, "If she said no, what's wrong? Why do you look so mad if she was being nice?"

Just then Heath and Manny slid into the benches and Deuce couldn't help his snake-hawk hissing in annoyance. He liked the two younger mansters but they were just too talented at saying the wrong thing and mishandling delicate situations for it to be a good thing for them to be here right now.

The flame elemental was looking between them, "Who was being nice and why is Deuce made about it?" He suddenly grinned at Deuce. "Hey, dude, did you get a new ghoul already? Who is she?" Heath's grin turned into what he believed was his rakish look. "Or are you keeping her a secret so I don't...y'know, melt the pour ghoul's heart."

Deuce fought a desire to roll his eyes. Heath was no worry whatsoever when it came to Purrsephone...well, maybe as an annoyance to the werecat but not as any kind of threat to the...the friendship, yeah, friendship. Deuce's eyes flicked over to the werecat's table and he tensed as he saw Romulus say something that had all three of the werecats giggling and leaning in closer. Deciding the best choice was not to answer Heath, especially not when he wanted to just dump his friend off the bench. Instead, he answered Clawd's question as best as he could without answering Heath's. "Dude, she didn't say yes or no. I made a suggestion and she said she'd consider it...but she's not gonna give an answer until she's asked."

Clawd leaned in, as did Heath and Manny, but the werewolf was following the gorgon's lead and leaving out names. "What do you mean until she's asked? You asked her."

"No, I asked her if a certain way might work and she said it might. I'm not gonna do the actual asking. That's not right. If the question's gonna be asked, it needs to come from the right person. Otherwise, it looks like that person is being stuck-up."

Clawd growled but kept in Deuce's plan even as Heath and Manny demanded to know who they were talking about. The werewolf continued to ignore the younger mansters as he responded through clenched teeth. "She is NOT stuck-up."

"I never said she was. I said it would look like that if she doesn't ask herself. If she sends someone else to do the actual asking then it's like she thinks she's too good to do the asking." Deuce held up a hand to cut off Clawd. "I KNOW, dude, I know she's not like that. But the one she needs to ask sees her like that. If she has someone else ask then the one she needs to ask is going to say no on principle cause the one she needs to ask is gonna see it in a bad way. There's too much bad blood for there to be any room for assumptions. I'm not saying the asking has to be all sweet and apologetic. I'm just saying it's gotta be a straight out question of if she'll do it for something in return from the person that needs it, not me."

Heath pushed his face right in between the two mansters, hair already beginning to glow in his agitation at being ignored, demanding loudly, "Who are you guys talking about? What are you talking about? C'mon, you can't leave us out, maybe we can help."

Clawd glanced over at them and tried for a friendly smile. "Ummm, not this time, dude, ok. Just ummm...it's...well it's..."

Deuce spoke up trying to help out Clawd. "It's a private thing ok."

Heath protested. "But I can keep a secret!"

Manny snorted in agreement. "Yeah, me too. You know we're trustworthy."

Deuce and Clawd shared a look. Yeah, they were trustworthy...mostly. They were also impulsive and usually didn't think before they spoke and acted.

The werewolf sighed but focussed on Deuce, to the annoyance of the younger mansters. "So, what's she want in return?"

Deuce shrugged. "Dude, tutors get paid."

"Paid?"

Deuce tensed again, angry and suddenly angrier as he heard Rom's low growling laugh. "And why not? Don't tell me she can't afford it. In case you forgot, I was there helping carry bags the last time they went shopping so don't even tell me she can't afford anything she really wants. So, the only question is if she really wants it or not. She don't wanna pay then no one's gonna force her but no one's gonna force the other one to teach for free either." Deuce fought with his temper even as he seethed inside. What was so wrong about the werecats getting paid for teaching? Why was it such an offensive thought? And just what in Hades was Romulus and the werecats finding so funny and why did he feel an almost overwhelming urge to go over and separate the werewolf and Purrsephone? There was nothing going on over there and, even if there was, why should the idea of two nice monsters getting together bug him so much.

He looked over at the table again and noticed Purrsephone watching him. As soon as their eyes met, she gave him a tentative smile, part encouraging, part worried. He smiled back at her, feeling calmer.

Just then, Heath demanded, "Is it Toralei? Is one of you going to date her? But what about Draculaura? Is she gonna teach or, y'know, two ghouls-" Heath's voice was taking on a suggestive tone and his eyesbrows began waggling in away that said what was about to come out was going to probably get him hurt if he ended it.

Both Clawd and Deuce immediately glared at the fire elemental, growling out his name in obvious warning to shut up.

Heath leaned back, holding up his hands defensively. "Dudes, I didn't mean anything. I mean, I just want to know what's going on? I mean the kitties were friendly with Frankie before and Deuce now...does that mean they've been...declawed?" He wiggled his eyebrows in insinuation.

Deuce grabbed the younger manster's jacket and yanked him partially over the table before he thought about it, snarling out, "Hey, Heath, you know the things Clawd and I told you not to say about Cleo and Draculaura's friends or you'd find out how our SKRM opponents felt?"

Heath was trembling but nodded quickly. He remembered quite well when he had tried to make a few innuendos about why the ghouls always went to the bathroom in groups and Deuce had had to pull Clawd off the fire elemental. Now, Clawd and Deuce's roles were reversed as the werewolf held a restraining hand on Deuce's other hand which was clenched in a fist.

"Good," Deuce continued, low and threatening, still holding Heath prisoner by his jacket. "Add the werecats to your list."

Heath's eyes widened in shock, "The werecats? Toralei and the twins, are you serious?"

"Try it and you'll find out just how serious I am. What you don't do to or say about Draculaura and her friends, you don't do to or say about them." Satisfied by the Heath's expression that he understood, Deuce sat back down and began to eat, tired of talking and hoping the others got the hint.

Manny and Heath shared nervous looks but Clawd brought up casketball and, soon, the conversation returned mostly to normal. Deuce, however, remained quiet, frowning. He didn't like this. He didn't like having to yell at Heath like that but, sometimes, it was the only way to really make the fire elemental understand he was going too far. Clawd and Deuce had had to do it before when he'd made stupid jokes and comments about Cleo, Clawdeen and Draculaura. So, Deuce wasn't surprised he'd had to do it again to get Heath to shut up about the werecats. Still, it annoyed him that it was necessary.

He guessed it hadn't fully gotten around yet that he was talking to Purrsephone.

Purrsephone kept glancing over at Deuce's table. She couldn't help it. First of all, he was handsome and, secondly, he was obviously not enjoying his friends' company and she was scared that it had something to do with her, Meowlody and Toralei. She was sorry if she was causing him problems with his friends. She didn't want to come between him and them. After all, she would never put up with him coming between her and the other werecats so she was sure he'd never put up with the reverse and she wouldn't want him to. Unfortunately, she wasn't going to pretend to like people she didn't like or change and pretend to be someone she wasn't so they'd like her just like she wasn't going to ask Toralei to go out of her way for Draculaura. That wouldn't be fair or right and she'd only end up resenting Deuce and being resented by her sister and best friend if she tried any of that.

Still, she hated to see Deuce upset especially if it had anything to do with her.

Romulus, though, was a nice distraction and was keeping the werecats pretty entertained. He had a great wit and sense of humor which they had discovered as he'd shared some entertaining stories about trouble he and the pack had gotten into in the past. Toralei had shared a few of her own adventures, including a prank she had played on the ungrateful and worthless ex-boyfriend of Teala's that had him crawling back for Teala's forgiveness. Even Meowlody had been charmed enough by the werewolf's green eyes to relate how they had tried to paint the headmistress' horse one night. At least she left out the more embarrassing parts of the escapade or, rather, she left them out after Purrsephone had given her a glare of warning.

Really, Purrsephone had not been worried. She knew her sister would not intentionally embarrass her however, Meowlody was playing up the possibility of it to get the glare from Meowlody which heightened the drama and enjoyment of the story because it hinted that there was more not being told. It was all part of the fun and it was fun talking to Romulus...especially for Meowlody if Purrsephone knew her sister. She wondered idly if the big werewolf might actually be able to capture the white-haired werecat's attention as she looked over at Deuce again and witnessed the confrontation between Heath and Deuce.

Her worry must have been obvious because the conversation at the table stopped. After a moment, when he had probably looked over to see what she was staring at, Romulus tried to reassure her. "Hey, that's no big deal. Sometimes you've gotta get in that guy's face to get his attention. He's kinda thick."

Toralei snickered. "Yeah and ice is kinda cold."

Purrsephone looked over at Romulus, ignoring Toralei's remark. "So...they're not actually mad?"

The werewolf shrugged. "Well, probably a little. The fire guy can really burn people up." He grinned and received a few snickers for his effort. "Seriously, Clawd and Deuce have had to do that to him before. Heath just doesn't really seem to get it sometimes unless you make real sure you have his full attention. Don't worry. It's fine."

Purrsephone smiled slightly, somewhat reassured but wishing she could talk to Deuce, just to make sure.


	29. First Touch

Sorry it took me so long to update. Things went a little crazy with school and then I got sick and then I just kind of rested.

Anyway, here is the next chapter. I hope you all think it was worth the wait. I will try not to make you all wait so long for the next one. :D

Now, on to what you all really want-the story!

(As always, reviews are enjoyed and read eagerly)

* * *

Clawd left as soon as he saw Draculaura enter the creepeteria with her friends, hopefully to talk her into asking the werecats nicely to teach her if she paid them. Heath immediately followed, having spotted Abbey, and Manny, of course, tagged along. Blissfully left alone, Deuce stood up, intending to head over to the werecats and frowned when he saw the table was empty.

He, immediately, strode out into the halls to find them to let them know what Clawd and he had talked about, not because of how Romulus had smiled at her…them. Their laughter suddenly rang out from around a corner and he smiled to hear Purrsephone. Then a few bass rumbles joined in and Deuce tensed. He recognized Romulus' low laugh but couldn't quite place the others. He didn't even notice his footsteps quicken until he had to almost skid to a stop to not overshoot the corner.

The scene, for some reason though, did not reassure him. In fact, he tensed as he took in the presence of three other werewolf males…and Dougey leaning over Purrsephone much the same as Gary had the previous night. Once again, Deuce felt himself grow angry at the sight of another manster so close to Purrsephone, so obviously interested.

What was wrong with him? They were just friends and he knew Dougey was a good guy. Maybe a little on the slow side, but still a good guy, just like Romulus who was looking at Deuce from his position between the twins with an amused smile.

The alpha raised a hand in greeting. "Hey, Deuce."

He managed a friendly nod back, covering up his confusion with a laid back smile. "Hey." His eyes sought Purrsephone's. He could see the worry in her eyes and his own smile slipped in response.

Before he could ask, the black-haired werecat stood up and motioned to the side. Her sister and friend immediately moved to stand but she smiled at them and waved them back. "It's ok, I just wanna ask him a question." She began to lead him to the side when she noticed that Dougey had stood up from the wall and was moving to follow them. The dark-haired werecat turned toward the alpha werewolf in appeal. "Romulus."

Deuce couldn't suppress a smile of amusement. It was the exact same plaintive but cutely demanding tone she had used the previous night when Gary had refused to leave the two of them alone.

Romulus shrugged and looked over at his pack mate. "Dougey, dude, she doesn't need your help to ask Deuce a question. Chill."

The big werewolf looked as unhappy as Gary had but, like Gary, he obeyed, leaning back against the wall but Deuce could feel the manster's eyes on them as Purrsephone led him farther down the hall…much farther since they were trying to get out of earshot of werecats and werewolves and they didn't have music to cover the conversation this time.

They finally stopped in an alcove and Purrsephone looked around suspiciously, obviously checking for the presence of Spectra. Finally satisfied, she turned towards him. "Is everything ok? I mean really ok?"

Deuce smiled down at her, warmed by the honest concern he saw in her eyes. "Everything's fine."

She frowned up at him. "It hasn't looked fine today. Not this morning when you came out of the gym and not in the lunch room." Her tail flicked back and forth as she nervously wrapped her arms around herself. "Deuce…if being friends with me…if it comes down to you have to make a choice between being me and them, I'll understand if we can't talk anymore."

His eyes widened in shock. "What?"

She dropped her eyes, tail coiling tightly. "They've been your friends a long time. You shouldn't have to choose but…if you have to…I'll understand that you don't choose me. I won't be mad, ok?" Her voice made it obvious that this was hard for her to say but that she was being sincere. "I don't want to be a problem for you, Deuce, and if our friendship is—"

He stopped her by laying a hand gently along her jaw and urging her to look up at him. "Purrsephone, you are not a problem. Clawd will get over it and as for Heath…that wasn't a problem, that's just Heath. There won't be a choice because my friends, my real friends, are not going to make something like that happen, ok?"

She didn't look convinced. "But…But what if they do? I mean, what if Clawd and Heath won't—You know Draculaura won't ever be ok with me so—"

"Shhh," He gently cut her off again, stroking a thumb along her jaw. Her furred skin felt like velvet under his touch, soft and warm. "It won't come to that. My real friends would never make me choose so anyone that makes me choose isn't a real friend, are they?" He smiled and continued before she was forced to answer. "Besides, Draculaura is nicer than you think she is. She just got caught by the crossfire between your group and the De Niles…though, I would appreciate it if you didn't target her anymore. I mean, it's not her you're really mad at and she is my best friend's ghoulfriend."

Purrsephone smiled up at him. "Oh, don't worry about that. Cleo's too easy of a target right now, no fun but Gory…" She let her teeth show, sharp and white, "Gory really shouldn't have picked a fight she can't finish."

Deuce chuckled a bit, still softly stroking Purrsephone's cheek, reluctant to pull his hand away. "The fearbook picture?"

"Was just the beginning. Gory messed with Iris." Purrsephone gave a soft purr and her lids half lowered though Deuce wasn't sure if it was because she was enjoying his touch or the thought of what the werecats would do to the arrogant vampiress.

Her breath ghosted over the inside of his wrist. Deuce felt his body tighten and the question if her lips were as soft as her skin flashed through his mind.

Before he could either react to the thought or act on it, their conversation was interrupted by an overly familiar voice. "Oh my Ra!"


	30. How to win an argument with Cleo

AN: Sorry it took me so long, especially on a cliff hanger. Just to explain why it takes me so long to update (feel free to skip past all this if you want :) )- I'm currently: working, going to college, have health problems that get worse when it's hot and this summer has been killer hot. Work and school have to come first so, unfortunately, my writing suffers from the whims of the weather and my health. :( Still, I do appreciate everyone letting me know they're excited for the next part and apologize for the long waits. Unfortunately, my boss won't pay me to write my stories and my teachers won't give me good grades for them. Very unfair of them I think, lol.

Ok, boring explanation part over - On to the next chapter.

* * *

At the overly familiar exclamation, Deuce turned, his hand dropping from Purrsephone's face as he placed himself between her and his ex. Cleo was bearing down on them, eyes flashing, lips twisted in a snarl with her friends trailing along behind her and Clawd trailing behind the ghouls, an apologetic look on his face.

Cleo stopped right in front of him and immediately launched into her tirade. "So, it's true. I didn't think it could be. I was sure that Spectra had gotten things wrong again but here's the proof."

"What proof?" Romulus' voice came from just behind Deuce's shoulder and a quick glance showed that not only had the werecats and werewolves heard Cleo's arrival, they had come to investigate.

Toralei and Meowlody's eyes were flashing with either mischief or anger and their mouths were turned up in amused smirks. He felt Purrsephone begin to move from behind him to go stand with her sister and friend. He reached back to keep her behind him before realizing it but did not regret the move. Cleo was in a fine temper and he was not letting Purrsephone become a target.

Cleo sneered at Romulus' question, refusing to address the werewolf as she continued to berate Deuce. "I knew you were cheating on me but I always thought you would have better taste than some filthy, scraggly alleycat."

Deuce bristled at the description of Purrsephone and Toralei pushed to the front, hissing, "Look, princess of nothing—" just as Deuce growled out, "Don't call her that—"

They were both cut off as Cleo launched into a truly inspiring speech about how she had been wronged by him, by the werecats, by the world. She even talked right over Draculaura who tugged at the mummy's sleeve, "Cleo, please—"

As he watched, her beauty began to lessen, especially when he looked into the eyes of her friends. Had they always held that fear as they watched her tirade, that worry? Was it new or was it just that he was seeing it for the first time? He looked over at the werecats. Toralei wasn't waiting for Cleo pause of breath as she hissed insults right back at the mummy, not caring if she was heard or not, focused only defending her friends from any attack. Meowlody was right beside Toralei, silent but obvious in support of her friend while Purrsephone kept trying to move around Deuce to stand beside her sister and friend, prevented only by the hold of the manster's hand on her upper arm.

A further glance around showed Clawd's expression moving from embarrassed to angry every time Cleo talked over Draculaura as both she and Frankie kept trying to calm the mummy. Romulus's expression was impossible to read as he watched the show but his pack was showing everything from amusement to annoyance, particularly Dougey every time Cleo called Purrsephone a new name. Deuce could sympathize with that, he wasn't liking it either.

Part of him wanted to tell Cleo to shut up, to explain that he had never cheated on her and certainly not with Purrsephone. Part of him wanted quiet her and then softly explain how she was hurting her friends by acting this way, hurting herself by making other people believe she was crueler than really was. However, from long experience, he knew neither of those would work. Yelling back at her would only give her more fuel for her tirade. Talking to her quietly had never worked before and probably not work now.

Watching her, it occurred to him that there was really only one way to deal with her, only one way to win a fight with her. Don't engage with her at all.

He looked at the scene with this new thought, saw Cleo's friends trying to calm her with soft pleading words and worried faces and Meowlody backing up Toralei, both werecats' ears flat against their skulls, faces twisted in hissing rage, eyes glowing. Cleo was glowing with power and emotion, in her element, in control.

No, there was no way to win a fight but one. Her tirades got her the attention and soft pleas to calm her that made her feel important and valued, something she lacked at home. Still, it wasn't fair to the others around her to have to take her abuse and there was no way he was going to see Purrsephone suffer at her hands, which meant he wasn't going to watch Toralei or Meowlody be the target of Cleo's games either because he knew that hurting either of them would hurt Purrsephone.

Decision made, he turned slightly and grabbed Romulus' shoulder, gaining his attention before pushing Purrsephone towards him. "Dude, keep her back." The alpha nodded and gently pushed the black-haired werecat behind him, curious but willing to go along with Deuce's play for the moment. Satisfied that Purrsephone was safe, Deuce walked up and pushed in between the werecats and Cleo, facing Toralei and Meowlody. He placed a hand on both their shoulders, softy urging them to turn around. "C'mon, it's not worth it."

It was annoying but understandable that Toralei immediately turned her anger on him, baring her teeth. "You think we should just let the pretty spoiled princess feel free to say what she wants, that we're not worth a fight."

Cleo's voice dripped in malice from behind him. "He's probably just realizing I'm right. Seeing you for the unkempt hissing—"

Deuce talked right over Cleo as if she hadn't said anything. "No, I'm saying fighting with Cleo isn't worth it. You're giving her what she wants and you've got better things to do with your life than to waste it playing her game."

Toralei's ears came up in curiosity. "Better things to do? Like what?"

Deuce shrugged with a smile. "Anything." His smile widened, teasingly, "Even homework has got to be more worth your time than this."

Toralei smirked and both werecats's soft laughs were almost lost in the gasp of outrage from behind Deuce. With casual flicks of their tails, the werecats allowed Deuce to turn them and guide them back down the hall, though Deuce didn't miss the taunting smirk Toralei tossed over her shoulder, nor the equally taunting wink that Meowlody sent over her shoulder.

Romulus had taken the hint and was trying to guide Purrsephone back down the hall as well but the dark-haired ghoul wouldn't go until she saw her sister and friend coming. Purrsephone wondered at why Deuce had interfered. He hadn't sided with Cleo but he hadn't defended himself or anyone else either. Still, she wasn't surprised to hear Cleo screaming that the werecats were no longer on the fearleading team.

Behind her, she heard Deuce suggesting to Romulus that they all head outside but that idea was overruled by the sound of the bell going off, which annoyed Purrsephone even more. She wanted to talk to Deuce to find out what he was thinking, to find out…well, it had seemed like he was going to kiss her before miss high and mummy interfered. Purrsephone gritted her teeth in anger at the memory of the interruption and the timing of the stupid bell.

As the group started splitting up to head to their various lockers, Purrsephone was surprised but happy when Deuce lay a hand on her shoulder, a silent bid for her to wait for a moment. Turning toward him in question, she found herself very close to him as he leaned down to quietly ask. "Hey, are you ok?"

She smiled softly. "Yeah, I'm ok."

He smiled back and gave her a quick hug. "I'm glad, we'll talk more later, k? After school maybe?"

Her ears perked forward in pleasure, which brought them into contact with his cheek as close as they were and she felt one of the snakes on his head briefly brush against the same ear. "Of course." The bell rang again, completely inconsiderate of the werecat's desire to stay right where she was and she wondered how the other werecats would feel about destroying the cursed thing.

"Cool!" Deuce smiled down at her and pulled her into a brief hug before heading towards his locker.

Purrsephone was too surprised and happy to move until Toralei and her sister each grabbed an arm and pulled her away, laughing that she was making them late.


End file.
